The Ripple Effect
by The Real Iggy
Summary: For decades Team Rocket has worked tirelessly for the goal of Kanto and Johto. Ash wants to be a Pokemon Master. Misty wants Ash-and respect. Jessie and James want out. Mewtwo just wants to be left alone. The three of Ash, Brock and Misty will each be compelled to protect their home and unite the trainers and Pokemon of Kanto.
1. Prologue: Family Matters

**Hello there everyone, allow me to introduce my first, full-scale fanfiction project. Pokemon is my oldest fandom, and I figured I'd say happy twentieth anniversary to everyone. As such, this will be super old-school. I know enough about the anime post-Johto, but it's true that I stopped watching after that, so this won't really have much material based on the later series. I'm open minded though, so there should be enough room to fit most arcs and events from the anime at large as you please, but at least for Misty this is considered somewhat AU.**

 **As this is, again, super old-school, so will be the pairings. We're gonna have good ol' Pokeshipping, along with Breedershipping, Rocketshipping and Handymanshipping. There might be some minor ones we'll squeeze in.**

 **There will be the following prologue, then a bunch of interspersed events to lead up to the main plotline some four years down the line.**

 **~Iggy**

* * *

Misty trembled under the light of the setting sun, the sun that now spread shadows across both the Johto Region and her days with Ash and Brock. As she slowly mounted her new bike along the mountainous path that would return her first to Celadon City followed by Cerulean City the breeze stung her eyes with tears.

Or maybe there was some other reason for them.

" _Well Ash Ketchum, now I know how you really feel about me..."_

Three years it had been since she'd pulled that pathetic kid out of the river and he'd stolen her bike to save his Pikachu.

How cruel it seemed now, for her to finally realize how much Ash valued her, that it wasn't just about some stupid bike, only to have it all come to an end.

Misty sped faster on her bike, absently noting how much easier it was to ride than she remembered.

She, Ash and Brock had all grown in many ways since then, although she wondered if Ash would ever yet be taller than her.

Then she wondered, how long before they met again? Ash had promised it would happen, and oh how she trusted him.

When they met again, who would be taller this time? He would have outgrown his old clothes, right? Maybe even that precious hat of his.

What would _she_ look like? Would she be taller? New clothes and longer hair? Would she have the same prized looks her sisters had?

Oh, her sisters.

She hadn't been very old when her parents had both left the family. Her memories had faded with time. She hadn't understood why they'd left, and had asked her oldest sister Daisy about it. She remembered only seeing the blotchy, teary eyes on her twelve-year old face as Daisy replied to her innocent question.

" _Misty… M-mom and Dad… well—they're going away. For… a long time..."_

 _"Bu' why? Dey wun da gym, wight?"_

 _"...Well… your sisters and I are gonna be the gym leaders from now on… okay?"_

 _"Bu' you said you di'n wanna be da weader..."_

" _I did, huh… well Misty, sometimes things don't always go our way..."_

Later in life Misty came to understand more about how her parents had left, and how her older sisters had begun to change following that day.

Lily seemed to have taken it the hardest. She was the closest to Misty in age, but still had a good six years on her. No small amount of torment from her would come. Lily had a tendency to always let Misty rile her up, with Violet joining in for good measure. And while Misty had gotten along best with Daisy, she could never prevent the other two from picking on her on top of being the gym's chief operator. Eventually, ribbing from all three older sisters would become the norm, and Misty grew up rough around the edges in order to get the things she wanted.

Yet, despite all that, Misty never stopped believing in what remained of her family. Even broken, siblings were always a child's best friends and worst enemies, and Misty loved her sisters through it all.

She'd honestly thought things had been getting better lately, but another upheaval in her life had her mind spinning to and fro.

A world cruise? What were the odds, seriously?

Misty was only too glad to be in charge of the gym. It was her right as a Cerulean Sister and as the most capable water Pokemon trainer.

She just wished it didn't mean having to leave Ash and be her sisters' tool yet again.

Her mind churned with upset thoughts until a large rock set in the path jarred her bike and herself into the present.

The sun had set by now. Brock was surely approaching Pewter City, while Ash was making his way towards home before leaving for Hoenn and away from her. The new light on Misty's bike led her along the path, easing out as she approached the limits of Celadon City for a restless night.

Misty groggily shifted as Nurse Joy gently nudged her awake next morning.

"I'm sorry to wake you so early, Misty, but you have a call from Cerulean City in the lobby..."

Misty waved her off in annoyance.

"'M comin'..."

Nurse Joy bustled off to attend to some incoming Pokemon while Misty made sure Togepi was sound asleep and slowly shunted towards the video phone.

" _Hey~ Misty, up and at 'em sunshine!"_ Daisy's cheery and distinctly feminine voice made her cringe.

"Yeah, whatever, what d'ya want?"

" _Were just letting you know that we're all packed up and ready to tour the world, so make sure you make it up here today, alright little sis?"_ Violet chimed in. Misty grunted, already in a bad mood from an early start after a tough day.

"What? You mean you're not gonna at least wait for me first? What about taking care of the gym?"

" _Well, see we've_ got _to like, get a full makeover treatment so that we're at our best to show ourselves off in the big life when we get on board, so we need to leave at least a day early~"_

"But… the gym and… what if I-"

" _Oh don't be such a_ downer _Misty,"_ Lily snarked, _"you've got all your water Pokemon there, I'm_ pretty _sure you have everything you need, right little miss 'great Pokemon trainer'?"_

Misty grit her teeth. If Lily thought she could just-

" _I mean, this is what_ you're _good at, after all. Just leave the fame and looks to us and you can have the boring old gym! Pokemon battles get me all sweaty anyway-"_

"Lily, come on, quit it..."

" _What? Is that a problem?"_ Lily's condescending had been just barely normal, but now her pretty face morphed into a sneer Misty hadn't seen in a long time. Misty didn't register the receiver giving a creak from her furious grip. _"We've got our own lives to live, you know, we can't be stuck in this lame gym-"_

" _Just… shut… UP!"_ Misty shouted. Other patrons in the lobby glanced over nervously. Lily stared blankly from the screen for a second before instantly shifting to match Misty's red-faced glare.

"What _did you say to me you little-"_

" _You heard me you_ loser deadbeat! You think you can just run my life for me!? Gonna walk out and leave me with it just like _Mom and Dad, huh!?"_

" _Oh, you wanna go there, runt!? You just stopped sucking your thumb when they ran off, and you know why they did? Because they couldn't_ stand _to look after_ you _on top of the gym!"_

In the corner of the feed Violet's nervous grin slid off her face alltogether. Daisy cringed, but could not get a word in.

"You think I don't _know_ that by now!? That I'm still too—too _ignorant_ to figure it out!? Well you know what!? _Forget the gym,_ how's that, huh!?" Misty's ears were ringing from the blood pumping through her face. Never had she been so livid. Not every stupid thing Ash did, not Brock's pathetic slobbering over women. A red haze dwelt across her mind, controlling her mind, her body. Words and resentment that she'd thought had been easing out of her mind lately streamed forth with a vengeance.

" _Misty-"_ Daisy started.

"NO Daisy, I'm DONE! So you don't want to look after the gym!? Well then just _get rid of it_ already if it's such a _burden_ to you!"

Lily, every bit as incensed as her younger sister, began to open her mouth in retort, but was shoved out of the way by Daisy.

" _Misty, please..."_

"YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT ME TO GIVE UP FOR THAT!? I'M NOT GONNA DO IT, SO SCREW YOU!"

 _Click._ Misty slammed the receiver down. Nurse Joy looked on in concern as Misty stormed back to her room, eyes facing down. She threw herself into the bed and pulled the pillow over her head as furious tears stained the sheets.

 _"Prri?"_ Togepi had woken up at it's mother's sounds of distress, and walked over inquisitively. It wormed itself under the pillow and nuzzled Misty's neck.

She held Togepi close and cried, too overwhelmed to return to the world outside.

* * *

"That _selfish—little-"_ Lily shook her fist at the blank screen on the video phone, her face taking on the complexion of her hair. Violet edged away from Lily's flaying nervously and then interjected in a somewhat snippy voice.

"Well, I mean, if you hadn't _goaded_ her so much-"

"Oh so you're saying it's _my_ fault now?" Lily whirled at her. Violet stared at the finger brandished in front of her nose for a moment and roughly shoved it to the side.

"Don't yell at me! And yeah, maybe it _is_ your fault!"

"What-"

"You pushed her! You _wanted_ Misty to get upset! You guys haven't fought like that in _years_ , what's _wrong_ with you?"

Lily backed down, but still looked all the ready to hit something.

"Well, it's _true_ , I mean after that time she wandered around that… Gyarados Mom and Dad were-"

"Lily."

"… Such a _nuisance_ after that and-"

"Lily!"

" _What, you too!?"_ Lily turned the other way after hearing Daisy use her voice for the first time since pleading with Misty. As soon as Lily caught sight of Daisy's murderous expression she cowered.

"You… you've always been a bit easy with Misty and-" Daisy narrowed her eyes dangerously, issuing a chilling aura that instantly made Lily bite her tongue in fear.

"...Lily, go inside and swim until you calm down." Lily didn't meet Daisy's eyes, trying to hide her encroaching shame.

"But..." she began slowly, but was cut off.

" _Now."_ Lily shuffled towards the pool without another word. Daisy turned around, slowly folded her arms, and exhaled. Violet sadly looked over at her and away from the door, knowing that Lily would not want any eyes on her right now.

"What should we do?" Violet asked softly, "do you think Misty will still..."

"...No," Daisy replied. Violet saw her raise her head at the clouds. "Lily crossed a line... no; we _all_ crossed it."

"But… you don't want to close the gym, do you…?" Violet whispered.

"...Give me a moment..." Daisy leaned on her right hip and looked back down in the ground in thought. In the fog of the past few minutes, Violet suddenly wondered just how upset Daisy was. Misty and Lily's anger had been great, but palpable; normal, even. Violet realized that, compared to the other two sisters, she'd never seen this tranquil fury that Daisy was capable of. She jumped as Daisy spoke again without turning around.

"Misty's right, and we're doing the same thing Mom and Dad did."

"Then… our trip and… what about our future plans? There are the first three months that would immediately lead into contracts… can we really afford to just _drop_ it? It could be _years_ before we can come back here full time, or else who knows how long it could take to get another opportunity like this..."

Daisy finally about-faced and Violet caught sight of her dull eyes, her face lacking its usual comforting smile.

"We _can't_ close the gym. It's not right. And we can't leave this trip in the air, either."

"So then..."

"We'll take turns."

"Huh?" Daisy sighed.

"While someone stays here to maintain the gym, the other two will be on the cruise and then whatever comes after that. We can keep in contact to make sure nothing on either end dries up." Violet eyed Daisy fearfully.

"But… none of us has _ever_ worked the gym by ourselves… and putting our careers on top of that? Can we really do it?"

"We have to, Violet," Daisy said firmly, her gaze burning with determination, "not just for us and the gym. For _Misty_." She flipped her hair, trying to look confident, but her hands were trembling.

"What if Lily apologizes to her?"

"That's up to Lily, but this isn't just about her and what just happened," Daisy stoutly replied, "I said this was everyone's fault, but..." her shoulders slumped.

"It's _my_ fault." Violet motioned as if to put her hand on Daisy's shoulder, but faltered.

"What do you mean?"

"...Lily was a lot older than Misty when Mom and Dad left… she could understand it better, sooner. But she was also still younger than us. Looks like she got the worst of both worlds on that, and..." Daisy wiped her eyes in shame. "Lily picked on her the most, but you and I both did it too, and… I did… did _nothing_ to stop it..." she sniffed. "I should have done better with you and Lily. I should have understood that this would happen eventually, but I was too young and..." Daisy attempted to dry her eyes. Tears slipped under her hands. Violet completed her move to try and comfort her only older sister.

"Hey, come on, don't blame yourself, if Mom and Dad hadn't left-"

"No, I'm not gonna throw around blame—not at me, _or_ at them. That's pointless." Daisy shook her head. "I'm gonna go first."

"Huh?"

"The gym. I'll be the first to stay behind. I'll get this… this _all straightened out,_ " she smoothed her blonde hair for emphasis.

"Will you be okay? Taking challenges, keeping the budget, making sure the Pokemon are fine and-"

"Violet," Daisy interrupted, "don't forget, we were about to shove all that on _Misty_. She's _thirteen."_ Daisy huffed and went to grab her suitcase. "I know what I have to do now… so it'll be fine."

Violet fell silent, pondering how quick they'd been to leave Misty by herself.

Daisy headed back towards the stairs of the gym's interior. "Now, Violet- you have a way with words when you put your mind to it, go tell Lily what I said and what the plan is. Once she's all tuckered out she's gonna turn that anger on herself—I'm sure—so keep an eye on her for awhile, then you two get going before you're late. Tell the cruise I'm staying behind for now because of a 'family emergency'. You don't need to tell them anything specific. We'll be able to coordinate what's going on between here and there while I'm at the gym. Once I figure it all out, it should be easier for you guys to do it..." she trailed off, suddenly feeling exhausted as she dragged the suitcase up the steps.

As Violet watched Daisy return inside the gym, somehow, shamefully, a sense of relief washed over her; at her elder sister vowing to take up the burden of everything that had transpired.

* * *

During the first day in Celadon, Misty felt a rigorous sense of trepidation as the minutes that she was not leaving for Cerulean City passed by. As night fell, a hot thrill went through her; her sister's plans were well and truly foiled. So long as she stayed away, they couldn't do anything. Misty darkly imagined them running about the gym in panic. But, as more days passed, she'd received no more calls, as Nurse Joy would repeatedly tell her.

She wondered for awhile. By all means, seeing as she'd denied them so suddenly, they'd continue either trying to negotiate or rag on her case.

But nothing happened.

Her Pokemon were growing antsy at this point from staying in the center without any understanding. She also knew that the Pokemon Center wouldn't allow her to stay indefinitely.

She stewed in misery and mutinous thoughts for nearly a week until she'd started thinking about what her next course of action was.

Her immediate thought was to return to Ash, but as soon as it came to her something about it made her squirm. Like she wanted something else.

Of course, there was the idea of explaining the change of plans to Ash, and the thought of it distressed her. Although, she thought fondly, Ash would surely be fine with any reasoning or circumstance she offered him, something inside her would hesitate.

As she'd tossed and turned on the eighth night, she figured it out.

Ash had decided to make a fresh start in Hoenn. Without her and Brock, without his Pokemon, even without his official hat. Only Pikachu would stay with him, the same as it was when he was ten, before anyone else, before even her.

She didn't want to ruin that. Not so soon.

There was more. She dug deeper.

She'd once vowed to be a great water Pokemon trainer, hadn't she?

Maybe, like Ash, she wanted her own new beginning.

She slept more soundly and in the morning immediately headed to a computer in the center where she could perform transfers for her Pokemon.

As she checked the status, she saw that Horsea and Starmie were both available. Her listed status as a full leader of the gym was also unchanged, which gave her access to the Pokemon listed under the gym's ownership. The thought of her gym status remaining made her head buzz. Her sisters were either long gone or remained at home by now. If they'd wanted to, they could have revoked her status as one of the gym leaders. If they'd closed the gym, even if temporarily, she would know by looking here, but that wasn't the case. That had to mean they'd stayed. Misty's chest clenched.

If she was still free to take her Pokemon, then she could take them and go anywhere she wanted.

It occurred to her that if the gym was still open and she was still one of the leaders then maybe her sisters still actually had some kind of trust in her.

She tried to force the thought out, but it stuck to her like a lost Growlithe.

Misty reached into her bag and called out Staryu and Goldeen. The looked up at her inquisitively. They were two of her oldest Pokemon, and put their foremost trust in her.

She knew they could do what she couldn't right now.

"Listen you guys… I don't… I don't think I'll be going back home for awhile. Me and Lily… had a bad fight."

" _Hyaa?"_ As she'd told Ash, Misty was able to feel Staryu's concern for her.

"It looks like the gym is still open, but I'm… worried, okay? I don't know how Daisy and the others will handle it from now on. I… told them they should close it, but I still don't want them to."

She took a deep breath.

"You two have a lot of battle experience now. I want you to go back to the gym for me and… and help keep it open and respectable, alright?"

" _Gol_ … _deen!"_ Goldeen did its best to salute her, and Staryu gave a sort of full-body nod. Misty hastily tried to wipe the tears that were forming.

"I'll be taking Starmie and Horsea in your stead to get them to being the best water Pokemon they can be, so please… please take care."

She hugged them and sent them on their way.

* * *

Daisy had been through a difficult week. It was all she could do put the gym in full working order, and each day of planning and execution was all too tiring. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she completed the last of the morning Pokemon feeding. It was fortunate there hadn't been any challengers since she'd taken up the gym so Lily and Violet could leave on the cruise and then begin their collective career planning.

In her current state, Daisy wondered how she'd possibly be able to face upcoming trainers and give them the true gym battle to test them for the Pokemon League.

She tiredly got to her feet and walked outside to retrieve the mail. She tossed most of it aside and stopped at one with an official-looking Poke Ball seal. It was labeled " _Official Pokemon League: proposal for regulation changes"_. Daisy made to pop the seal but stopped as she heard the Pokemon roster change notification coming from the pool. She threw the unopened proposal aside and hurried over. She panted in, her blonde tresses disheveled, in time to see Horsea and Starmie recall into their Poke Balls along the sides of the pool and then disappear into the system connection.

It didn't take long to understand that Misty had actually made some form of contact. Distractedly, she thought to go check the PC to see if any messages had been left, but was jolted away by the emergence of two other Poke Balls from the transfer.

" _Of course,"_ Daisy thought absently, _"Misty has six now, she'd have to return two of them here..."_

She slipped a little in her haste to reach the Pokemon as they appeared in the pool. Staryu and Goldeen.

"Hey you two… Misty sent you here, didn't she?" They offered nods of affirmation. "How… is she doing?" Daisy asked worriedly. The two Pokemon looked at each other, downcast and unsure. "I see..." Daisy sat back, feeling every bit the failure Misty must think her. "Did she say anything… when she sent you here?"

" _Hya!"_ Staryu swiftly rose out of the water and spun over to the giant Cascade Badge emblazoned along a wall. It halted in mid-air to tap the symbol a few times for emphasis.

" _Goldeen, goldeen!"_ Goldeen bobbed enthusiastically in agreement.

"So… so she wants you to… stay here and battle for the gym?" Staryu returned to the water where it and Goldeen splashed their confirmation. Daisy slowly sat down at the pool's edge and dipped her feet in.

"Oh..." Her eyes watered, causing Misty's Pokemon to draw closer in concern. She leaned forward and rubbed their heads in gratitude.

"When you see Misty next, do your best to tell her… 'thank you', and… 'I'm sorry', okay?"

Daisy's tears fell unabashedly upon Misty's Pokemon.

* * *

 **Stay tuned!**

~Iggy


	2. Chapter One: The Mysteries of Pokemon

**Hello there again, this took longer than I would have liked, but I've had concerns with finding a new job. That's not important though, so here's the first official chapter!**

* * *

It wasn't a great distance to Misty's new destination, especially with her bike back. Even so, it took much of the day to reach Vermillion City and the afternoon sun beat on her shoulders as she rode along the coast. She stopped to find some food and soon sped off towards the Vermillion Gym. She entered, hoping it wasn't too late in the day. Like she remembered, it was dark inside.

"Hey, is the gym leader in?" she called out boldly. The lights snapped on.

"Sorry, kid, Surge doesn't usually play with little girls," a trainee smirked down at her. Misty didn't feel like being pushed around.

"I'm not here for a gym challenge. I want some information. Are you gonna get him for me or not?"

"What's a runt like you want from Surge?" Misty growled low at 'runt' and reached for a Poke Ball.

" _Look_ you, don't make me-"

"Hey hey, what's all da ruckus eh?" a commanding voice boomed. Lt. Surge's massive figure approached from somewhere off to the shadows. He pushed his lackey aside and bent down at Misty's copper head. "Well lookie here, if it ain't da little lady from da Cerulean Gym!" he laughed boisterously. Misty sighed. At least he'd recognized her.

"I'm not the gym leader right now, Surge. I'm… training."

"Trainin' huh?" Surge rubbed the stubble on his chin. "Den I'm guessin' ya want somethin' ta do with electric-type Pokemon?"

"Something like that. I… need some advice. You're an expert on electric Pokemon and their attacks, or aren't you?" Misty said reluctantly.

"You got dat right!" he puffed, and pointed the annoying trainee off somewhere else in the gym. He sat down on what appeared to be a weight-training bench and waved his hand for her to ask away. All business, like the military, Misty supposed. She reached into her bag and called Starmie.

 _"Krshh,"_ Starmie called as the light faded.

"Hey, you don't see one of those a lot," Surge laughed again. Misty walked next to Starmie who appeared to look at her inquisitively.

"You're right, Starmie's not seen much in the wild or among trainers. Because of that, I think there's a lot of things about Starmie that I've never known about."

"Oh yeah? You find out somethin' interestin'?"

"While traveling in different region, I met another Gym Leader who had a Starmie, only it wasn't like mine. This Starmie could use electric attacks."

"Electric attacks from a water Pokemon huh, dat sure _is_ somethin'..." Surge said, excitedly rubbing his hands together as if he too was trying to spark electricity. "Well dere Misty, like ya said Starmie's kinda a mysterious Pokemon, so I can't tell ya much, but if ya saw it, I guess it can happen. Ya might be interested ta know dat dere are some other water Pokemon dat _can_ use electric attacks widout also bein' an electric type." Surge grinned at her. "Like Gyarados."

"Wha—Gyarados? Really?" Misty blanched. Surge chuckled.

"Yeah, Gyarados, and Lapras is anudda one. Cool eh?"

"Woah, yeah!" Misty matched grins with him, imagining Ash's lovely Lapras shocking Team Rocket the way Pikachu always did.

"Not a lotta trainers use either a dose guys, or Starmie, so I guess even less people know about it. Dey're pretty unique."

"Then… then-" Misty shook her fists earnestly, "do you think you can help me teach Starmie how to use thunderbolt?" Starmie hopped up eagerly.

"Ya know, I just might. Tell ya what, it sounds like a challenge—which I love—so come on by tomorrow mornin' an' I should have somethin' figured out for it." Surge jumped to his feet and marched off into the depths of the gym, rubbing his hands together again.

"Alright, thanks!"

 _"Kshh!"_ Starmie cried in equal excitement as Misty recalled it.

The next day Misty scarfed down some breakfast and pedaled back to the Vermillion Gym. She heard the chirping of various bird Pokemon and the shouts of sailors working in the harbor. It felt good, she decided. Good to be on the move, to have a goal. It was good to be learning the secrets of her water Pokemon and become a more powerful trainer than her sisters had ever been.

Surge was all too happy to see her. "Alright, I got it!" he whispered conspiratorially to her, "y'see with Starmie it's all about da _rotation_ , must be!"

"Rotation?" Misty questioned.

 _"Krrsh?"_ Starmie agreed, having been released from its Poke Ball immediately.

"Yeah, yeah, ya know how a turbine works right?"

"Er, well… do you?"

"It's like.. uh..." Surge scratched his head, "well, it's kinda complicated… but when it spins it makes electricity!"

"Oh, so then..."

"Yeah, Starmie's a Pokemon dat can move real _fast_ right?"

"Starmie's competed in races before," Misty nodded affirmatively.

 _"Koorsh!"_ Starmie jumped into the air, spinning briefly.

"Dat's it! Surge snapped his fingers at Starmie, "jus' like dat! See?"

"See what, exactly?" Misty glanced at Starmie, who spun back into the air.

"Starmie can spin dose two sides of itself in opposite directions! _Dat's_ da way!" he gesticulated wildly. "Electricity is formed when da positive an' negative energies are separated," he clapped his hands in demonstration, and knelt down at Starmie. "So, da first ting we wanna do is get you to build up dat negative energy, because dat's da easiest way ta start!"

 _"Krshh?"_ Starmie glanced at Misty.

"You can do it," Misty reassured it, "why start with negative?"

"It's all about da charge, y'see, an' a negative charge means there is a charge, an' a positive charge means dere's no charge!" Surge seemed to nearly shout all of his sentences.

"Huh? A negative is a charge, and a positive is no charge…?" Misty rubbed her forehead. Togepi chirped happily in her other arm.

"Trust me, it's just how it works! Da negative charge wants ta escape, so it goes ta fill up da empty positive charge an' make a complete circuit!"

 _"Ksshh..."_ Starmie shook itself in confusion.

"Da point," Surge said impatiently, "is dat it'll be easier ta know what da absence of charge is like after yer accustomed ta feelin' da charge! Now let's get ta work soldiers!"

It was afternoon again when Starmie's moment would finally come. Halfway through the training Surge had shoved some energy bars and a fruit drink into Misty's hands in place of lunch, which she accepted somewhat nervously, ignoring his comment about 'gettin' some meat' on her.

"Yeah, yeah! Ya got both da negative charge an' da positive charge down! Now listen up-" Starmie stood at attention, captivated by Surge's militaristic charisma, "-I want ya ta make yer front star positive and yer back star negative!"

"Go on Starmie, face the targeting rod," Misty urged, and Starmie turned towards the electrical conducting spike some distance away.

"Easy now," Surge glanced at an ammeter as Starmie concentrated, "a little more… Dat's it! Remember how dat feels!"

"Now Starmie, spin and strike!" Misty ordered.

 _"Krr-rsh!"_ Starmie spun in the air and lashed out like the crack of a whip, instantly making a bolt of lightning shoot down the rod with a bang.

"Yes~ you're the best, Starmie," Misty jumped and wrapped herself around Starmie in glee.

 _"Krshh..."_ Starmie wilted in her arms.

"Oh, you must be tired… use recover okay?"

As Starmie regained energy Surge clapped Misty's shoulder in congratulations, making her cough.

"Well dere ya have it, Misty! A Starmie wid tundabolt! No water Pokemon trainer could stand up ta ya now!"

"I—thanks for your help..."

"Don't mention it Misty! I learned somedin' cool an' we Gym Leaders have ta work ta keep all our reputations secure!" Misty recalled Starmie and began heading back to the Pokemon Center to give it a proper healing session.

"See you," she waved to Surge after exiting the building.

"Make sure ta keep practicin' dat tundabolt! Stop by sometime if ya get a Gyarados! An' say hi ta yer pretty sisters for me!"

Misty sweat-dropped.

* * *

" _Psy~ yi yi duck!"_

Misty sighed as Psyduck flailed about yet again in the water, unable to find itself.

"Seriously, who ever heard of a water Pokemon who can't swim?" Psyduck splashed about in the lake to the north of Vermillion City until Misty mercifully gave it the flotsam.

" _Sea, horsea~"_ Horsea zoomed through the water joyfully as it got to know Misty's other Pokemon while she'd been away. Politoed didn't hesitate to jump into the water after Horsea and start playing. Togepi chirped on the shoreline where Starmie was keeping a watchful eye. In so much that Starmie had eyes, at least. Corsola, eager to impress Misty and the other Pokemon, diligently swam rounds up and down the lake, humming like a motorboat.

Misty waded out in her swimsuit to where Psyduck was floating despondently.

" _Psy..."_ it whined at her, holding it's head.

"I know, I know Psyduck, we'll figure this out together eventually, alright?"

Misty lay back in the water in thought. There were scarcely any clouds in the summer sky to help her think. She imagined what Daisy would do to help Psyduck swim. It would naturally involve some form of trickery to give Psyduck the mindset to learn to swim, such as offering a goal. Violet would have grabbed every book, picture or how-to and lecture Psyduck on the art of swimming and then give up after the first five minutes. And Lily would…

Misty shook her head in the water. She'd have to kick this habit of looking to her sisters for ideas in training her Pokemon.

She didn't need them.

She had the mind to solve this problem, didn't she?

Mind…

Mind… that's it!

Misty plunged her feet back in the water and grabbed Psyduck's inner tube, drifting it back to the shoreline.

" _Psy?"_ it asked. Misty looked at Psyduck brightly.

"I have an idea, Psyduck. Maybe you just need some confidence. Instead of swimming, we're going to work on your… headaches."

Psyduck looked nervous, wondering what sort of blunt-force trauma this might entail.

"Pack it up, we're going to Saffron City," Misty said promptly, and clapped her hands. Her Pokemon immediately swam back to her and she recalled them. Psyduck continued to stare up at her in confusion as it disappeared.

Misty placed Togepi in the basket of her bike and started on the short distance to the Saffron City Gym.

Later, Misty stopped outside the golden building and shuddered. She'd forgotten just _who_ was the expert on psychic Pokemon.

The encounter with Sabrina hadn't been pleasant, to say the least. But Sabrina was the most powerful Psychic trainer she'd ever heard of. If anyone could help Psyduck control its psychic attacks, it would be her.

Misty gulped and rang the doorbell. She waited several moments for a response. She fidgeted and looked back at the length of the sun just as the door creaked open. She jumped slightly as the gym leader herself peered out from the darkness.

"Ah, you are Misty, a leader of the Cerulean Gym and the friend of Ash Ketchum. Pardon me, I did not foresee your arrival. The gym does not receive many visitors." Sabrina's blank stare remained on Misty until she shook off the menacing image she remembered; Sabrina was clearly not like that anymore, she thought in relief.

"Yes, um… I'd like your help with something please." Misty grimaced at her own voice. There was no reason to be so nervous, she thought.

"I see. You may come in." Sabrina turned nonchalantly and telepathically waved the lights on.

Sabrina led Misty into a sitting room that reminded her of the room she'd stared at as a doll. Once again she forced it aside as Sabrina stiffly set a mug of tea for her. They sat down.

Sabrina slowly sipped her own tea and seemed to think for a moment.

"Now then, what can I do for you?"

As Misty didn't trust her voice right now, she simply reached into her bag and brought out Psyduck.

" _Psy… duck?"_ It grabbed its head and looked up the table where Sabrina was sitting. Misty cleared her throat.

"You see, um, Sabrina, Psyduck here is able to use powerful psychic attacks, but only under conditions of duress. It has something to do with the headache it always has, and the worse it gets the greater the psychic abilities are. We were hoping you'd be able to help us figure out these abilities, and maybe Psyduck can learn to use them better." Sabrina leaned over to look at Psyduck. She carefully balanced her head on her elbows in curiosity.

"Yes, I have heard of the psychic potential of the Psyduck line… though it has only ever been classified as a pure water type Pokemon rather than a dual water psychic type such as the Slowpoke line… and Starmie."

Misty's shifty thoughts of Sabrina suddenly took a backseat.

"Huh? Starmie's a… psychic type?" Sabrina looked over at her without removing her elbows from the table.

"You were not aware? You train a Starmie, do you not?" Misty scratched her cheek softly.

"Um, well..." but Sabrina looked away and closed her eyes.

"No, forgive me. Few people are familiar with psychic Pokemon… it is understandable that you did not know."

" _Psy yi yi..."_ Psyduck snickered at its trainer with no such grace. Misty roughed up its head in irritation.

Sabrina carefully stood up and knelt before Psyduck. They stared at each other for many seconds. Misty tried not to laugh at Sabrina's expense at how similar they looked like that.

"Hmm… I feel it there, in its head. It is powerful indeed, but the psychic energy runs about freely in its mind, without control. That is what causes the headache. It does not have the natural control over the energy a psychic Pokemon would have."

Psyduck blinked.

"Stress could offer a temporary mental fortitude that provides the control..." Sabrina rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "I think I know. Please call out Starmie as well, Misty."

"Er-" Misty said, taken aback slightly, "yeah, sure..." Starmie emerged in a flash.

" _Krrshh,"_ Starmie immediately looked over to Psyduck and Sabrina.

"Yes, you can tell what I am, can't you?" Sabrina offered a small smile. "That's good. This should work out fine." Sabrina returned her dark eyes to Misty.

"If you'll allow me, I'd like to teach psychic attacks to Starmie. This will also be the first step for Psyduck gaining control over its power."

"Well—that sounds fine to me, I mean, a trained psychic Pokemon is really powerful..."

"Hmm, I suppose they must seem that way..." Sabrina eyed her in contemplation.

"...But how will that help Psyduck?" Misty asked. Sabrina considered her.

"How do I say this… you see, a fundamental part of being a psychic is the bond they share with others. Friends, family… and between trainers and their Pokemon." She opened her arms widely. "As your long-time Pokemon, both Starmie and Psyduck share a strong bond with you." She smiled again. "You may not be aware, but I can tell that Psyduck respects you a great deal."

" _Psy yi yi..."_ Psyduck looked away bashfully.

"Therefore," Sabrina continued, "the easiest way for Psyduck to learn to use its abilities is with Starmie's help. As a psychic Pokemon that possesses that 'natural control' it is much easier for me to teach attacks to Starmie. Then, because of their shared bond with you, they can connect with each other. In essence, Starmie is the one most suited to teach Psyduck control, not me."

"I think I understand… well then, if you wouldn't mind..." Misty said.

"It would be my pleasure," Sabrina said primly, "please follow me, there is a special room that I like to use for training."

They made their way to a windowless room filled with strange-looking objects and—oddly enough—a set of children's blocks.

Sabrina sat cross-legged next to the blocks and motioned Starmie to hover over next to her. Misty stood awkwardly.

"I… apologize," Sabrina said uncomfortably, "this may take awhile… I have no way for you to occupy yourself..."

Misty suddenly thought that Sabrina must not have many friends, even since regaining her wits. The notion made her go a bit soft inside.

"It's alright, Sabrina, I'm fine with waiting, I'll sit and watch," she said, doing just that. Sabrina looked relieved.

"Well then..." she reached a hand towards Starmie, her eyes glowing electric blue. Starmie fell to the floor, looking relaxed.

Misty sat idly for several minutes. Though nothing appeared to happen, Misty knew Sabrina was forming some sort of telepathic communication with Starmie.

Then, eyes still glowing, Sabrina's gaze swept over to the blocks. She tilted her head, and a simple square block began floating. After a few seconds, she set the block down, and looked back at Starmie. Misty watched in fascination as the block rose again. It wobbled, but only for a moment. It stayed in the air for a little bit, then set down gently.

Each time, Sabrina would move a block, and each time Starmie would do the same. The movements of each block grew more complicated. Then Sabrina moved on to multiple blocks. There had been some more wobbling, but Misty was sure Starmie was quickly getting the hang of it.

Looking back, it should have been obvious for Starmie to be a psychic type, she thought. It only floated in the air everywhere, not to mention recover was a psychic ability. The gem core it had must be like the mystical key, or something.

After Starmie successfully telekinetically placed each block in a specific formation, Sabrina hovered from her seat on the floor over to a wall, where metal spheres of increasingly large size were lined up orderly. Starmie followed suit as Sabrina slowly raised the first, baseball-sized sphere in the air.

One by one, Sabrina and Starmie lifted the spheres all the way up to one that had to be as tall as Sabrina. Though it seemed gentle, the final sphere echoed a low crash as it returned to the holding place.

Sabrina's blazing gaze swept to the other side of the room this time, where what appeared to be cans lined the wall again in increasing size. The last one looked almost like an oil drum.

They hovered over, and Sabrina stared at the first can the size of a soft drink container. Slowly, the can crumpled into a neat ball.

Misty suppressed a shiver in her spine. Then, to her surprise, the can reformed itself, looking as though nothing had happened. Starmie copied her, though much less neatly. Eventually Starmie managed to reform the can to a state that seemed to satisfy Sabrina.

As they moved down the line, Starmie improved the process. The last, massive can creaked and groaned as it was wildly crushed, but seeing it reshape itself like nothing had been wrong was oddly satisfying.

As Sabrina landed on the floor, Starmie did the same. Her eyes stopped glowing and she straightened up to walk back to Misty.

"That should do it. Your Starmie is very strong, by the way. It had virtually no trouble with escalating the force."

Misty felt impressed with them both. She'd watched intently, but the process had taken nearly an hour.

"You may call out Psyduck. Starmie knows well what to do, and they can get started with the training and we'll see how it goes.

" _Krrrsh!"_ Starmie said confidently, appraising Misty with its new found telepathy.

"Oh I'm proud of you Starmie..." Misty said as she brought Psyduck out.

" _Psyduck..."_ it waddled over to Starmie, who began to glow slightly and hovered in front of it.

Sabrina and Misty watched them for a bit, then Sabrina raised her head, again seeming to remember something. She turned to Misty.

"Ah yes, I must tell you about the techniques Starmie will be able to use. The first is a psychic Pokemon's trademark move: the Psychic attack."

"Mm, Psyduck's used that attack before," Misty replied.

"Indeed? It must surely have more talent than is apparent..." she said thoughtfully. "The other move is one that was recently described in a far-off region. It is a unique move that a high-damaging psychic Pokemon would find very useful. It is known as Psyshock."

"Psyshock? I've never heard of that..."

"I only found out about it recently. You see, this move is interesting because it is a special attack that will deal physical damage."

"You mean… a Pokemon that has a strong defense against special attacks..."

"May be hit hard by this move, yes," Sabrina said. "I know of no other move like it. It offers psychic Pokemon an advantage they did not have before."

Misty gave a small grin. "I guess psychic Pokemon have a lot of unique abilities..."

"There are many kinds of psychic Pokemon out there," Sabrina agreed, "capable as I am as a human psychic, Pokemon are still capable of so much more..." she looked over at Starmie and Psyduck, who had finally closed its eyes as Starmie coaxed it into understanding its psychic potential.

As Misty watched them as well, Sabrina's words put images in her mind. This time not of dolls and an impressive Kadabra.

She remembered flight. Massive blasts. Glowing spheres. Bubble-like encasing. The ground shaking beneath her feet.

There was something more to it than she remembered. It hung in the back of her mind. But she could not find it… like the space it once occupied was all that was left.

"Say, Sabrina..." Misty started. Sabrina looked back at her, eyes questioning. "...Have you ever heard of a psychic Pokemon that could speak to humans telepathically?"

"Not… directly..." she said slowly, "there have been some scattered records in the past… such Pokemon may have appeared on occasion, but no, I have never seen or heard of it happening. You see, such a thing, if it's even possible, would take incredible psychic strength. It sounds simple, but it is one thing for one psychic to form a singular bond to communicate with another psychic, be they human or Pokemon. It is another thing completely to freely broadcast oneself, and to do it as effortlessly as you and I speak." Sabrina paused. "You ask… from experience?"

"Yes," Misty said without hesitation, "I met a Pokemon at least once that could do that. One that called itself… Mewtwo. It could speak with its mind, and do things I'd never imagined a psychic could..."

Sabrina's eyes widened.

"Mew...two?" She looked away, her tongue poked the side of her mouth in thought. Such a human-like reaction made Misty think again of how she'd almost thought of Sabrina as inhuman. She resolved to destroy that thought.

"When… when I was young," Sabrina began, "I found a book somewhere in the gym's stores. It was very old. I handled it with my telepathy so I wouldn't damage it." She took a breath. "It spoke of one Pokemon in particular… rather, yes, 'One Pokemon'." She looked at Misty again. "The book said that, eons ago, there was a single Pokemon that predated all others. A psychic Pokemon, called Mew."

"Mew? So, Mewtwo would be..."

"Yes," Sabrina whispered with excitement, "Mewtwo must somehow be related. To be called 'Mewtwo' in such a manner… somehow, Mew must also be real. Or, perhaps, it _was_..."

"Maybe the only one left that knows is Mewtwo itself," Misty mused, "it had seemed to me that, somehow, Mewtwo had a difficult time living in this world..."

"Yes, you're probably right..." Sabrina said softly. She shook her head. "I can't explain it, but I never found that book again. It always… frustrated me," she admitted.

Their thoughts were broken as Starmie flew over to them excitedly. Psyduck sat back, looking tired.

" _Krshh!"_

"Hmm, well, it seems there was some progress," Sabrina said matter-of-factly, eying Psyduck. "But that will probably be Psyduck's limit for today. As I said, it will be much more difficult for it than with Starmie. You will have to have Starmie continue if you want to see results, but I guarantee that they will come in time."

Psyduck gratefully returned to its poke ball along with Starmie. Misty followed Sabrina back to the entrance of the gym, noting that most of the day had passed by.

"Hey, thanks a lot, you've done so much for me," Misty said to Sabrina at the door.

"Please, it is I who should thank you, Misty," Sabrina replied, "our conversation was very enlightening. Knowing more about something that has irked me since childhood makes me… happy," she smiled clearly. "I hope that one day I can meet this Mewtwo."

"Well, I'm no psychic, so don't take my word for it, but I have a feeling it will happen."

"That's not true."

"...Huh?" Misty tilted her head.

"Sorry. I mean that you're 'not psychic'. You are."

"I don't think..."

"Sorry. I meant to say that… everyone has psychic power. Most people just don't realize it, but certain thoughts, feelings… these things can happen, and it's because of psychic power. Love, too, is a psychic power… such as..." she stopped, and said carefully, "the bonds you share with your family."

"Sabrina..."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry, but… Starmie was very concerned about you. It's trying hard to be strong for you right now." Sabrina drew herself up a bit. "The connection between you and your family is still powerful, and will one day reform even better than ever. That's what it feels like to me, anyway..."

Misty was quiet for a moment.

"Thank you, Sabrina," she placed her hand on the other girl's shoulder, "that means a lot to me."

* * *

 **Well this seems like a good place to stop. Next chapter some time will pass and we'll take a peek at how the Cerulean Gym is doing without Misty. On this chapter, writing the Pokemon was a new challenge to me. I also spent a lot of time on Surge's dialogue. Sabrina I paid a lot of attention to, since she's probably my favorite gym leader. Since I HAVE in fact logged hundreds of hours in the current games and defeated thousands of people on modern battle simulators, please trust that I mean out of ALL gym leaders. Nonetheless, I embrace my old-school roots.**

 **Until next time,**

 **~Iggy**


	3. Chapter Two: Moving On

Misty greedily chugged some water as she rested in the Pokemon Center from her heated ride down to Fuchsia City along the cycling road. Several weeks had passed since her visit to Sabrina in Saffron City. She'd spent a lot of time since then seeking out bodies of water large or small to train with her Pokemon. In each session Misty began with attempting to give Psyduck more swimming instruction. This was rarely successful, but on occasion Psyduck was able to remain afloat by itself for a few moments. Sadly, these moments never seemed to last, and Misty would move on in frustration. At that point, Misty had Psyduck start forging its dormant psychic attacks with Starmie, as the sessions never took very long. Before and after, Misty worked with her other Pokemon, doing swimming exercises and practicing techniques new and old. She trained with Horsea in particular, as she knew it was very important for Horsea to swim regularly, something she hadn't been able to give it while traveling through Kanto originally.

But it was the afternoon now, and she needed to find a place to store her things before she and her team –minus Psyduck—swam out to the Seafoam Islands, hoping the stories she'd heard of powerful water Pokemon would give hers the battle training they needed.

"… .. ..." Background noise filtered as she allowed her skin to cool and the water to absorb. People chattered with each other and their Pokemon. Chansey filtered in and out of the lobby occasionally. The news crackled on a TV overhead listlessly.

"… _Cerulean City Gym where the ongoing problem..."_

Her ears perked and she was given an unwelcome jerk out of her respite. She turned her attention to the TV, where the Kanto News Station was giving a report on her home.

" _Gyaaaarrrooooaaagh!"_ She flinched as the camera focused on a Gyarados roaring with outrage from behind a set of steel bars.

" _...Following up on a prior story where a recently evolved Gyarados went on an upset rampage, causing damage to the gym and nearly injuring one of the gym attendants, resulting in the Gyarados' immediate restraint by the Gym Leader, who we received the following statement from."_

An image of Daisy popped up on the monitor. Misty's eyes stung with regret; her normally cheerful sister had a hard line across her forehead and her hair didn't seem to look as shiny as usual.

" _The Cerulean Gym has handled Gyarados in the past, and it is notoriously hard to train, however this particular Gyarados has been the most difficult case I have ever seen."_ Daisy's voice had a hard edge to it, even considering what she sounded like through the screen. _"We've employed many standard and researched techniques to attempt to calm it down, but have had little success, and I was forced to restrain it. We have, at least, since been able to recall it into its poke ball, but it remains a serious issue. I hate to do it, but if Gyarados again causes a threat to the other Pokemon and the trainers working with it, I will have to release it."_

Daisy's face cut away to the caster. Misty waited to see if there was any more information.

" _..._ _And unfortunate circumstances indeed, Tom, we wish the gym success, now back to..."_

She turned away. This time a cold sweat ran down her temple despite the sweltering heat.

She shuddered as the Gyarados cried out in agonized rage against the bars in her mind. Daisy's heart-breaking face appeared before her.

Blurred memories flashed. The dark mouth around her. That same piercing roar. Then there was Lily's young, shocked face. She heard Violet's high-pitched crying. Daisy's arms wrapped around her as that Gyarados vanished into the poke ball in her small hand, fingernails covered in flower stickers.

She had to put an end to those fears.

Misty slowly got up and made her way to a computer terminal. She opened the messaging program and checked the feed to the Cerulean City gym.

The Leader's channel was open. Misty took a deep breath.

" _I'll take in the Gyarados,"_ she typed. Her eyes fixed sharply on the screen until a reply came.

" _Absolutely not."_ Misty knew that would be the response. _"I won't put you in danger like that, especially not after what happened back then. And this is not a normal Gyarados."_ She sighed softly, comforted by Daisy's words. But she could not let this one go, no matter how afraid she was.

" _Listen, I knew that Gyarados as a Magikarp, we practiced and swam together for the underwater ballet. I think I can connect with it better. I want to help it."_

" _No. We've done all we could. It's a tough decision but it needs to be released, for the safety of the gym."_ The response had been swift. Misty typed back furiously.

" _Please, Daisy, I need to do this. Ever since that time when I was little Gyarados has been this obstacle, this thorn in my side, preventing me from being a better water Pokemon trainer. I need to get over this fear. I'm sorry about what I said before but I have to try, please!"_

Misty waited on the edge of her seat for a long time.

" _You don't have to apologize,_ " she finally saw. _"I want you to keep an emergency alert on you at all times."_ Misty's stomach leaped, either from joy or from fear, she did not know.

" _Alright."_

" _And do you promise to stay near a city in case something happens?"_

" _Yes."_ There was a pause again. She tried not to imagine what Daisy was going through on the other side.

" _You have a week. If you can't get it under control by then, I will have it released. If I don't hear from you at the end, I will find you, wherever you are. Understand?"_

" _Thank you, Daisy,"_

" _Please please PLEASE be careful."_

On the other end, Daisy cradled her face on the surface of the computer desk as Gyarados' poke ball was transferred.

" _Please_ be careful, Misty..." she sniffed.

* * *

Separated from the group as she was, Misty listened longingly over her shoulder to where Ash was eating dinner with May and Max, who was telling them excitedly about one of the mysterious Pokemon they'd encountered, a Shedinja.

She scoffed a little. Strange as it was, it was still a bug Pokemon to her.

She looked on into the setting sun which cast long shadows, making her squint in the darkness. She overheard Ash state that it was a good time to start a campfire.

Listen to him now, she thought, taking up the reigns of leading around a fresh trainer and a tag-along kid who couldn't even start training yet.

Misty wondered if Ash had thought of her the same way since they'd left Viridian City the first time. She may have been an angry, unsure upstart, but at least she'd known how dumb it was to send out a Caterpie against an evolved Pidgeotto.

"Everything okay?" She jumped a little bit as Brock came up behind her.

"Don't do that! Don't you know girls don't like it when you scare them?" Brock just shrugged and ignored her jab, looking at her pointedly. She sighed. There had always been one person who definitely looked out for and was the mentor Ash needed.

And for her, too. She knew Brock considered her and Ash as another two of his siblings. He looked after them the same as he'd done for everyone he'd left in Pewter City.

"...I'll be okay. Toge...tic will do fine. It's grown up now. It knows responsibility." Brock nodded carefully.

"I'm sure you and Togetic will see each other again sometime. I didn't just mean that though. Are you really okay with leaving the gym and your sisters at odds like this?" Misty shuddered. Brock may lose all self-control around a pretty face, but when he wanted to be he was incredibly perceptive.

"...How'd you hear about that?" Brock placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"I was still the official leader of the Pewter Gym before I came down to Hoenn, and Cerulean City's just the next town over, of course. I couldn't help but hear about how Daisy was taking full responsibility for the gym operations. My first younger brother Forrest is very gung-ho about taking up the gym himself. It was easy enough to imagine that you and them had… a problem."

Misty said nothing for a moment and her stomach squirmed uncomfortably.

"...Right after we all left, I… sort of… lost my temper with Lily over the phone. The way she talked about leaving the gym, like how little it mattered to her to leave it alone with me, and after they'd made me leave you guys, I..." Misty's face burned. She refused to look at Brock. She wanted to run from this conversation. She fumbled her arms as though hoping to find Togepi still in them. Brock's hand held steady over her shoulder.

"So then you've been traveling and training by yourself these last couple of months since then?" Misty sniffed, and nodded.

"...I thought it was going well, for awhile, that I didn't need _them_ anymore, that I was confident and… comfortable in my decision, but..." Brock rubbed her shoulder, easing her a little. "...But when I heard about how Gyarados was causing them trouble, and how… how _serious_ Daisy was about the gym and… how she… _refused_ to let me try and train Gyarados, saying it was too _dangerous_ for me..." Misty halted as her voice gave out a soft hiccup.

"But you _did_ train Gyarados, you did something they _couldn't,"_ Brock said softly, reaching his arm across to her other shoulder.

" _Yeah,_ and, I was _happy_ about it, but… but that Daisy tried so _much_ to protect me, that she's doing all this at the gym for _me..."_ Brock sighed slightly as he understood Misty's dilemma. "You… you know," Misty cried, "when I was little, Daisy talked about how much she didn't _want_ to be the gym leader just because it was in the family and she was the oldest… b-but even though Mom and Dad left… even after I said those things to them that day, s-she _still..."_

Brock pulled Misty in close without another word, and Misty stained his shoulder with her face as it dissolved into quiet sobs. She did her best to stifle them; somehow, she didn't want Ash to come running and see her like this.

By the time the sun had gone down Misty withdrew herself from Brock's shoulder, rubbing her eyes.

"I'm sure your sisters—even Lily—will welcome you back with open arms. But only when you feel ready, okay? However long that may be."

"Mm..." she uttered non-noncommittally. She breathed deep and stood up straight, bringing her gaze to Brock. He scrutinized her carefully until, finally, he seemed satisfied that she felt better.

"...May and Max are good kids. Do what you do best," Misty told him.

"Oh, so they're _kids_ to you now, are they? You're only three years older than May, you know," Brock ribbed good-naturedly.

She smiled again.

"...Do me a favor, don't tell Ash about what happened with my sisters after I leave tomorrow, okay?" Brock folded his arms.

"...I can't say I agree with you, but if that's what you want..."

"It is… for now."

* * *

Daisy growled as she fumbled with the regulator buttons for the water temperature. Her hair hung slightly in a frizz as the brisk winds of late fall blew around her. After the eleventh time she'd stopped to brush leaves out of her clothes she gave up and decided she'd simply have to call a technician to fix it.

Along with the aquarium filter.

As she went back inside she ran her fingers through her hair in a cursory manner as she mused how the her of six months ago would have sooner gone on a pastry-only diet than voluntarily go outside in this wind to mess with the gym mechanisms.

Well, she was done thinking about such things, she decided.

Daisy had been all-too relieved to hear from Misty again right at the end of the Gyarados debacle. She'd been out of her wits with worry that evening. She'd wondered if her fingernails would recover from the amount of biting they'd gone through, and staying up so late was bad for her skin, too. Luckily, they had gone back to normal.

She shook her head. There were more important things to worry about now, she once again reminded herself.

Gym challenges had gone well since the first week she'd started running the gym by herself. Staryu and Goldeen had tremendous gusto and battled against each upstart trainer with joy. Dewgong as well had been amazing, especially the time they'd had to subdue Gyarados to get it back into its poke ball.

They'd do well whenever the Pokemon League decided to put their new gym regulations to the test. Luckily, they still seemed to be a long ways off.

In the living room, Daisy dug through a bookshelf until she pulled out a dusty volume she'd barely remembered had been there.

 _'The Theory of the Pokemon Battle'_ it read. If the Pokemon League was serious, then the gym leaders would need to be able to handle not only young, inexperienced trainers, but also advanced trainers with many badges to according levels of skill.

Before, trainers only needed to defeat eight gyms in their respective region. The gym, so long as it was officially recognized, was free to organize the battle and meet whatever standards they saw fit. Some gyms were easy, and some weren't. The number of badges the challenger had made no difference.

That was how it had been, but things would soon change.

She wondered if her largely-untouched battling strategy would be enough to meet the standards by then.

She set the book next to a phone directory on the table where she kept other papers and documents strewn about in a manner that likely only made sense to Daisy.

As she was looking up technicians in the phone book the doorbell rang brightly.

Daisy sighed, and bustled over to the general entrance.

"I'm sorry but challenges today are suspended to due to temporarily inoperable-" she called as she pulled the door open, then caught sight of the person outside.

"Oh, um, I'm not here for a gym challenge. You're Daisy right?"

Before her was a tall guy, probably a few years younger, with friendly eyes and a dorky haircut that somehow suited him. He carried a large backpack which appeared to contain lots of equally large but flat objects.

And… were those shorts? At this time of year?

There was an awkward silence while Daisy stared into his kind eyes. The young man rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, appearing to wonder if he was in… the right…

"Oh! Yes—yes I'm Daisy, of course! And, you are…?" Daisy snapped out of whatever peculiar reverie had held her tongue.

What _had_ that been about, she wondered?

"Hi there, I'm Tracey!" he waved, "I'm Misty's friend, I traveled with her and Ash throughout the Orange Islands." Daisy's face brightened.

"Yes, she's mentioned you, although she and I have been… a little out of touch lately..." she shook her head, not noticing how her hair had resumed its slightly frizzy appearance. "Ah, I'm sorry, come in, come in!" she ushered him through the door.

Daisy hastily brought out cups for tea while Tracey waited in the living room, looking over at the messy table. Daisy face-faulted at his gaze, gesturing with her hands.

"Oh, I'm sorry for the mess, it's been just busy busy busy~" It didn't seem to bother Tracey, however.

"Ah, it's okay, I'm used to seeing things like this at the professor's lab..."

"You mean Professor Oak, right?" Daisy said excitedly, "what kind of water pokemon does he have? Do you get to work with them?"

"Er—well, he's got lots of water Pokemon that the Pallet trainers leave with him, and since I've been through the Orange Islands I guess I'm pretty familiar with water pokemon..." Tracey's voice trailed off as a thud from the pool area resounded off the nearby walls.

"Oh, that'll be the diving board again..." Daisy moaned, and scurried off, leaving her tea to steam.

For a minute or two Tracey sat idly sipping his tea, wondering if he should go find some way to keep Daisy's tea from getting cold. With a start he remembered why he'd come to the gym, and went off in the same direction as Daisy.

He found her precariously perched underneath the diving board, which, he noted, hadn't seemed to fall off its mount, but probably was loosed from its platform.

"Come on, stupid thing..." she turned at a knob with both hands.

"Hey, um, Daisy, maybe I could give it a try," Tracey called up to her. Daisy stopped and popped out from underneath the board.

"Oh, Tracey, I couldn't ask you to do that..."

"Well, actually..." he put forth, "I'm here because Misty asked me to come see if you needed any help with things. She didn't want me to tell you it was her, but..."

Daisy looked down at him, and blinked.

"...She did?"

"Yeah," Tracey began somewhat nervously, "I think she's just concerned about the gym… and about you, although she doesn't want to admit it."

Daisy stared, more than a little dumb-founded. Her heart soared at the thought; that was just like Misty…

"Well… come on up the ladder," she smiled at him. Once his face showed over the top of the ladder, she gestured to the diving board's locking mechanism. "I can't ever seem to get it tight enough with my hands, so it comes loose every so often, which is bad if someone ever uses it, but luckily we haven't done any shows for awhile..." Tracey nodded and craned his neck to look where she was pointing.

"I can try and tighten it, I'm pretty good with my hands-" Daisy blushed, cursing her mind, "-since I sketch all the pokemon I can. We should also check if any of the screws are loose… do you have a screwdriver that would work?"

"Oh, yes! I hadn't even thought of that… I'll be right back~" Daisy nimbly pulled out from under the diving board. "Here, let's switch places!"

The afternoon went on companionably for Daisy and Tracey. At her request, they went outside to check the temperature regulator again after finishing with the diving board.

Daisy felt very happy with the results.

"...And that's why sometimes the compression fails, but if you adjust it like this," Tracey pushed some of the buttons deftly, "everything should be fine again, see?"

"Hm~ you're pretty handy to have around, Tracey!" Daisy giggled. Tracey just rubbed the back of his head again.

"I guess… I handle a lot of these things for Professor Oak, so I must have just picked it up." He followed Daisy back inside the gym, who this time seemed unperturbed by her windswept hair.

"Say, Tracey, if I could trouble you some more, the pool's also due for a scrubbing..."

"Okay, sure, whatever needs to be done," Tracey grinned.

"Great, thanks!" Daisy beamed, "let me show you what to do..."

An hour later the pool was almost done. Daisy and Tracey swabbed the empty pool floor with brushes side-by-side. He'd told her all about traveling in the Orange Islands, which of course made her keen to visit them someday. Preferably in the summer. They'd since fallen into an eased silence as they completed the scrubbing.

Daisy, still bent over her brush, looked over at Tracey, who stared intensely at the floor as he scrubbed, keeping a sharp eye for grime. He appeased himself for the moment and straightened up to wipe sweat from his forehead. As he did, he glanced over and met Daisy's eyes. He smiled again and gave her a thumbs up.

Her cheeks felt warm.

Oh dear, she thought.

She gave a funny smile and nodded, then continued her own scrubbing.

Eventually the pool was finished and she started refilling it. Daisy glanced out a window and noted the sun was setting. The afternoon seemed to have flown by while they'd been working.

"Well, it's gotten this late," Daisy began, looking back towards Tracey, "I can't send you back to Pallet Town with no supper after all the help you've been today… I know a good takeout place nearby, my treat!"

"Sounds good, thanks a lot!" Tracey got up from the seat he was resting on.

"I'll grab my coat!" Daisy ran off, but doubled back to turn the water pump off. "Oops, that would have been careless of me..."

Later they fished through the foam boxes of noodles and rice with chopsticks as Daisy peppered him with more inquiries. Tracey answered modestly until the subject of water Pokemon came up, at which point he reached into his backpack for a poke ball.

"I just remembered," he said after swallowing a mouthful, "I wanted to show you a Pokemon of mine," the poke ball released a flash of light.

"Aw~ what a cutie!" Daisy cooed at the Azurill that popped out.

" _Azu?"_ it stared up at her curiously with wide eyes. She gently picked it up and rubbed its head. The Azurill squealed in excitement.

"This Azurill just hatched from an egg I received from my Marill. I've thought about it but with how the professor keeps me busy I can't always give it the attention it needs. Misty said she's too busy with her training and that I should bring it here and… you might like to take care of it?"

"Ooo, I'd _love_ to!" Daisy gushed, nuzzling the Azurill. "Although," she set it down, where it eyed her noodles with hunger, "let me tell you a secret," she whispered to Tracey, "Azurill's actually a _normal_ type, isn't that funny?" she let out a soft laugh. Tracey looked astounded.

"Huh? But… it evolves into Marill, and it can even use water attacks, and… and it's blue!"

"Oh, Tracey," Daisy giggled, "just because a Pokemon has that oceanic blue tone doesn't mean it's a water-type!"

"Really?" Tracey asked interestedly, "what other Pokemon with that color aren't water types?"

"Er..." Daisy face-faulted and looked down at the Azurill, which had started happily slurping at her noodles. "W-well, you know… there are others, I think..." she waved her hand flippantly. "So, so-" she piped up, "-can you tell me how... Misty was doing?"

"Hm, well we only talked on the phone, but..." Tracey rubbed his chin in thought, "she seemed excited by how her training was going, and she did sound concerned when she asked me to come over. She was happy that I agreed to go, even if she didn't want me to talk about it..." Daisy listened intently. "But I thought you ought to know, so that's what I did. But, um, if you _do_ happen to talk to her, could you not tell her I did that? She's kind of scary when she's angry..." Daisy leaned back with a smile.

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

Daisy stared up at the high ceiling in thought for several moments. Her smile vanished.

"...I really should have tried harder for her. Misty had some tough times growing up… I could have made it easier on her, but… I guess I failed."

Tracey did his best to come up with an answer for her.

"…Hm well, I guess it was awhile ago, but when we traveled through the Orange Islands we saw lots of water Pokemon, Misty would always tell us all the stuff that she knew about them, and… she was never afraid to mention how her sisters had been the ones to tell her about this or show her that." Daisy looked away from the ceiling to Tracey's earnest face. "I _do_ think she looks up to you a lot, I mean you pretty much raised her by yourselves, right? You guys will make it, that's what I think."

Daisy could find no words, but returned a smile.

At early evening Daisy saw Tracey out the door and offered him a spare coat to borrow.

"You should dress for the weather next time, okay?"

"Thanks; next time?" Tracey looked back at her.

"Ah, well..." Daisy began slowly, "I don't suppose you'd be free to come over next weekend? I feel bad asking you, but you were _so_ much help today, and if you have the time..."

"Yeah, okay, Professor Oak should be fine with it. He'll probably think it's a good experience for me, the lab only has so many water Pokemon," he waved his arm.

Tracey was a nice guy, Daisy decided.

"Great! It's a date!" She flipped her hair and skipped back inside, in better spirits than she'd been in a long time. "See you later~" she waved cheerfully as the door closed.

Tracey stood outside the gym for several moments.

"...A date?" He gulped, having not anticipated this possibility.

* * *

 **Apologies for the long wait, I've been getting used to my new job. I have a nice sequence of days off now, so to make up for it I'll get the next chapter up much sooner, probably in the next few days.**

After writing this it's occurred to me that there's been a lot of scenes of people crying and I keep having to not describe it the same way. But the upside is that this should be the last of it, for awhile. Starting next chapter we'll move away from the Cerulean Gym to begin teasing the plot details. I'd estimate we're roughly a third of the way from starting the main plot. I might decide to distinguish the sets of chapters as a "Part One" or some such, we'll see.

Yes on the Handymanshipping, by the way. If you felt the Brock/Misty interaction felt shippy, well... sorry, they won't be like that.

 **Yay for Brock's debut! I'll need to figure out what to do with him later in the plot, though.**

 **Until next time,**

 **~Iggy**


	4. Chapter Three: Evil Stirs

Brock wiped sweat from his brow as he trekked up the path that led to the Indigo Plateau. Ever since starting his Pokemon Medical School training Brock had kept too busy to travel the way he'd used to. No longer were the days of backpacks, tents, cookware and all of the Pokemon supplies he'd carried across the earth.

A little bit of time down in the books and now this was all he was capable of?

He found himself missing his travel days much more than he'd thought he would.

Eventually, he made it to the meeting area. The solitary building with the poke ball tower looming overhead. The pinnacle of the Pokemon League. Ancient statues of Rhydon lined the final path, said to be the Pokemon used by the first Pokemon League Champion. A massive battle with Rhydon in the center centuries ago against an unknown foe was thought to be behind the formation of the Plateau.

The Pewter City gym was one of the nearest to the Indigo Plateau, and with it had come that ancient philosophy of how ground and rock-type Pokemon had shaped the land. Each gym close to the Plateau drew from the old stories in some way. For Pewter Gym, it was rock-types. For the Viridian Gym, it was, Brock had heard, ground-types. And for the Blackthorn Gym, it was dragon-types, the long-time holders of power and legend, even called divine.

The Blackthorn Gym must have their own knowledge and theories regarding the old stories, all coming down to dragon Pokemon.

"Only authorized individuals on League business may enter. Show your proof of engagement," the stout and shadowy guards flanking the front entrance announced as Brock approached. Brock flashed the Boulder Badge.

"I, Brock of the Pewter City official Pokemon Gym, certify that I am here today on official Pokemon League correspondence," he returned. The guards nodded and stood aside.

"You're a bit early. The meeting will commence in one hour in the front conference center." The guards waved him in.

The atrium was adorned sparingly, save for some furniture and a full-size statue of a Gengar in the center. Brock walked up to the dark stone statue in interest, finding a plaque at the base.

 _-The Pokemon League is proud to have been the summit of competition between Pokemon trainers across the land for untold generations._ _In all of that time, in one battle after another, no Pokemon has earned itself the elite status of Gengar, the only Pokemon to have seen play from trainers in the Pokemon League top_ _sixteen_ _teams in every single championship series. To Gengar, the_ _master_ _warrior that has endured c_ _ountless_ _style shifts and strategy changes, we give our utmost respect.-_

A smaller plaque lay underneath. This one had space, as though it was added to periodically.

 _-Honorable mentions go out to the following Pokemon that have also demonstrated at-length excellence, but have not received the same prestige either due to rarity or imperfect records:-_

 _-Alakazam_

 _-Machamp_

 _-Arcanine_

 _-Kangaskhan_

 _-Starmie_

 _-Snorlax_

 _-Dragonite_

 _-Crobat_

 _-Scizor_

 _-Skarmory_

 _-Blissey_

 _-Tyranitar_

 _-Time has proven these Pokemon to be the best of the best in Kanto, Johto, and more. The Pokemon League hopes to continue to see these Pokemon in amazing battles.-_

Brock sighed at the Gengar statue, which was grinning cheekily and held out a victory sign as it stood over the names of all the Pokemon that had fallen to it over the years. The Pokemon League sure loved to lay it on thick. Brock grabbed a bottle of water from the front table and retreated to one of the sofas along the walls to wait out the period until the meeting.

Over the next thirty minutes Brock saw a few other gym leaders enter the building, each holding out their respective badge to the guards. Sabrina offered a nod in greeting and Lt. Surge gave a hearty wave. Erika gave him a pretty smile from her formal kimono, making him blush. He was about to get up and discuss the finer points of flowering plants with her when he overheard the guards.

"...Um… I, Violet of the Cerulean City official Pokemon Gym, certify that I am here today on official Pokemon League correspondence."

Brock's ears perked and he stood up towards the door. Violet had a worried look on her voice and glanced at the clock on the wall. Her face lit up in relief when she saw Brock, and hurried over.

"Brock! It's been _so_ long!" she gave him a quick hug. Brock carefully returned it, holding his heartbeat at bay. Violet clearly had other things on her mind than romantic prospects.

Oh well.

"So… are you here for the meeting?" Violet asked him, wringing her hands in anticipation. "I thought you'd, like, made Forrest the official gym leader by now?"

"I did, but this sort of affair is still a little out of his league, so I came here in his stead," Brock said as they sat down across a side table. Violet swiftly looked at the door as the guards welcomed Blaine all the way from Cinnabar Island.

"You're taking classes for Pokemon pre-med, aren't you? Did you have to take time off?"

"Yes," Brock nodded, "but only for a short time, this meeting is very important. I'm guessing you took a shuttle up here?"

"Yes, I did..."

There was an awkward silence, as Violet went back to staring at her hands. Brock had a pretty good idea of what she was nervous about.

"Everything okay with the others?"

"Oh, um, well… you probably haven't heard from Misty since the last time?"

"No, not since she sent a message that she was heading to the Tohjo Falls to train last year..."

"Mm, Daisy got that too. That was awhile ago, and I read that area had some powerful wild Pokemon..."

"I'm sure she's okay," Brock said, "she still has that emergency alert that Daisy made her take, so we would have heard if something happened."

"Yes, I know..." Violet nodded. She looked at the clock again and then leaned forward. "Lily's been depressed lately," she whispered. "I noticed it a week ago, after Misty's birthday went by—she's sixteen now, can you believe it—but now that I think about it, it's been happening for awhile..."

"How can you tell? What does she do?" Brock said seriously.

"Well—nothing _drastic_ , thankfully, it's just… she doesn't _smile_ anymore, you know?" Brock nodded. "She only smiles when she has to for work or gym officials or something, and she's normally so energetic… I think that argument she had with Misty back then is starting to weigh on her heavily, I mean, it's been nearly three years since they spoke or even saw each other..."

"None of us has seen or heard from her really," Brock agreed. "Daisy has had some contact, but..."

"It's just been some scattered messages," Violet confirmed. "I told Daisy about this and she's with Lily right now while I'm the current gym leader but… I'm just worried. I don't know what I can _do_ to make her feel better..."

"Well, maybe I can tell you one thing," Brock said, full-on doctor mode. "I know it's hard, but you need to stay positive. If Lily is depressed, you can let it get to you either. You seem very anxious about this, but try to stay calm. Lily wouldn't want her problems to start affecting everyone else, I'm sure."

"Yes, yes I see what you mean..." Violet took a deep breath. "Lily's headstrong like that… like Misty, actually. Or maybe, it's Misty who's headstrong like Lily..." Violet's gaze drifted off in distraction towards the entrance. "You know," she said, "before Misty really came into her own, Lily was the best at Pokemon battles. She should be the one here at this meeting, not me..."

"There's still plenty of time before everything goes into effect," Brock assured her, "Lily can get used to the high level of Pokemon battles before then."

"I hope she can..." Violet trailed off as a shiny black car rolled up to the entrance. Out stepped a sharply dressed man in a dark business suit with glistening poke ball cufflinks and greased back hair. He straightened his tie and walked up to the guards.

"Check out that _car,_ is he a gym leader? I've never seen him before..." Violet said covertly to Brock. He said nothing, watching intently.

"…Name is… Acting representative of… here on official Pokemon League..." Brock tried hard to listen from the other side of the glass doors, but couldn't make out anything specific.

And then the representative flashed their badge, and he didn't need to anymore.

"The Earth Badge…! He's from the Viridian Gym!" Brock whispered back to Violet. She looked back at him.

"You hear so little about that gym… is that the gym leader?"

"I don't know, I've never seen the leader either, but..." Brock glanced around for prying ears, and then leaned close to Violet. "Awhile back, when Ash went to the Viridian Gym, we found something out. Keep quiet, but I think that gym is run by Team Rocket."

"T-Team Rocket?" Violet stammered, putting a hand to her mouth.

"I heard there was an investigation, but reportedly nothing turned up, somehow they've avoided all suspicion," Brock continued, "but we have no other proof, and Jessie and James can hardly be said to be… _accurate_ representations of Team Rocket, I mean… we met the _head_ of Team Rocket once."

"Then… is that him?" Brock looked over, considering her words.

"No, there are some similarities, but… how can I say it, I don't think their boss would put on such a charming public appearance. I don't know why they would bother running a Pokemon Gym either, let alone one that so rarely takes challengers..."

"Still, don't you think that guy is kind of… creepy?"

Brock looked again to the man, who had passed briskly through the door, ignoring everyone else and went through the open conference room doors. Brock found himself agreeing with her. His disarming smile was ever-present, and he somehow retained an oily appearance.

A few more minutes passed and Brock noted that almost all of the remaining official gyms in the Kanto region were accounted for. The Johto League gyms must have a separate conference, he thought. When it was about time for the meeting to begin, Brock and Violet stood up and walked through the doors to the conference hall, a large room with arching domed ceilings and squashy chairs lined up in front of a podium. Brock and Violet sat down near Koga, who gave a sharp nod of acknowledgment. They were, thankfully, on the other side of the room from the Viridian Gym representative.

The lights dimmed as Mr. Goodshow trekked past the seats in his usual casual attire. It might have been hard to imagine such a carefree individual managing something as serious as the Pokemon League, but Brock knew from prior experience that the man was not the pushover he appeared. He eyed the microphone which was just above his speaking level.

"Ah, I keep telling them to set it for me… the curse of my height, y'know?" Goodshow grumbled. A quiet laugh issued through the hall, easing the air, but Brock and Violet were too concerned over the mysterious Viridian representative to join in. The greasy man hadn't budged an inch, nor did the curl of his mouth change. After reaching up to pull down the microphone, Goodshow cleared his throat.

"Hello, hello! I see many familiar faces here, and many more that I've not had the chance to meet." Blaine gave a fast wave and Koga nodded, still ever serious. "As you may know, my name is Charles Goodshow, and I know I don't look like much, but I am the President of the Pokemon League. I called you all here to have our final discussion about changes in the gym regulations. This time, we meet in person rather than paper or electronic correspondence." He stepped off the podium and pressed a button on a remote in one hand, while his other grabbed the microphone. He fiddled with the device and a screen in the background flashed with eight of the Kanto badges.

"Kanto contains many fine gyms, and in the past many of them have gone officially recognized by us at the Pokemon League. Trainers who obtain eight of these badges are eligible to compete in their region's respective conferences. Ever since the release of the modern Poke Ball created by the Silph Company, however, training Pokemon has become more efficient and ubiquitous. The fact is, we've seen more and more qualified trainers than ever before. We at the League got to thinking. Why eight badges? What separates merely qualified trainers from exceptional ones?"

The screen flickered and a diagram reminiscent of a League battle display came up.

"For example, a fresh trainer just starting out will likely attempt the nearest Pokemon Gym to him or her. In the past, the gym leader decides their own terms of the battle, with whatever Pokemon they wished. This occasionally created a discrepancy. If the gym took it easy with a fresh opponent, the trainer might receive a battle that went well with the strength of their Pokemon. But other times, the trainer would simply be outmatched for an inordinately long time until their Pokemon grew stronger. This, we feel, has made trainer strength very inconsistent, and has divided up many of the gyms by their strength."

Violet shifted in her seat. Brock knew the Cerulean Gym had often been considered a weaker gym, and a target for trainers looking for an easy badge. From the sound of things, Lily would have to keep it together better than before.

"Our proposed gym regulations seek to resolve these inconsistencies, and may also affect the number of officially recognized gyms."

Violet fidgeted some more. She was no doubt worried how the gym would hold up when each of them had, at best, moderate battling and training capabilities.

"The first element of the new system shall be the mandate of, for starters, the use of a maximum of two Pokemon for challengers with zero to one badge. These Pokemon must also be of appropriate strength. Any trainers affiliated to the gym in addition to the leader must also follow these limits when handling challengers. The gym is further encouraged, though not required, to provide additional mental or physical challenges to test capabilities outside the battlefield. Of course, our increased traffic gives us additional funding for such..."

Brock tuned out Mr. Goodshow to look over the other leaders. Violet was not looking any less anxious than before. Sabrina's expression had not cracked a bit, and Lt. Surge was rubbing his hands together excitedly. Blaine and Koga looked eager to discuss whatever sorts of nasty tricks and trials they could come up with. The businessman from the Viridian Gym had his hands folded under his chin, face betraying nothing.

"...Ah, of course I should clarify that this system extends through the number of badges, so challengers with two or three badges may face three Pokemon, four or five, four Pokemon, and six or seven badges five Pokemon in battle. If you please, only those with eight or more, that is, those qualified for Major League competitions, will the Gym Leader be asked to use his or her full strength."

Mr. Goodshow took a drink of water and cleared his throat.

"I just have one more announcement. Our Indigo and Silver Conferences remain our premier Major League competitions. Due to the number of challengers already qualified, we are extending the number of preliminary contestants to one hundred and twenty-eight."

Brock listened intently. This was more than twice the previously established number.

"As before, winners of these tournaments are given a title and award. However, I am proud to say, once these revamped regulations are in place, the winners of these tournaments will automatically earn the right to challenge the Elite Four to become the Champion."

Violet's eyes widened, as did Sabrina's by a more modest amount. Mr. Goodshow paused for effect as the words sunk in.

"I know in the past the Elite Four have only taken challengers at their discretion, but we believe that anyone who makes it through the new scope of this gauntlet will have earned that right. The Elite Four have agreed, and will be making their own announcement in due time."

While the new information settled into the small crowd like a creeping shadow, Mr. Goodshow spent the next several minutes going over building costs and the use of gym trainees. He flipped his papers about in minute disdain, as though he cared more for Pokemon battles than legislature. Brock and Violet tuned much of it out, in part with assurance that the important information would be viewable in the future anyway and in part filled with anxieties, each their own.

Eventually, Mr. Goodshow tapped his papers in conclusion.

"Now that should just about do it… does anyone here have anything further they'd like to discuss?"

Brock looked around the seats. Blaine and Koga remained stoic. Surge looked ready to jolt for the door. Brock glanced twice at Sabrina, who to his amazement rested her elbow on the armrest and had her cheek mashed lazily into her palm.

Then Brock caught sight of the Viridian representative, who stood up in one smooth motion.

"I would merely like to say that we at the Viridian Gym are committed to a stronger Pokemon League, and offer our assurances of cooperation with your efforts," the stranger spoke softly, but with a deep base that carried well through the chamber.

"Ah yes, the Viridian Gym," Mr. Goodshow started, peering down at the man with scrutiny. "We're glad you were able to make it here."

"Our gym's leadership has been… _inconsistent_ as of late," the man inclined his head acknowledgment, "however I am pleased to say that we have made great progress in our… organization, and are aiming to become the top-ranked gym in the region. Our leader sends his apologies that he could not be here today, he has been very busy with his preparations ever since the message in the post, and felt it would be best if he continued his work while I relay the events of today to him."

" _So he's not the Gym Leader,"_ Brock thought carefully. He saw Violet shiver next to him.

"Hrm yes, well, the Pokemon League appreciates your ambition," Goodshow nodded firmly, "aiming for the top is, of course, what we are all about, and that goes for everyone here too," he turned back to the audience. "This reorganization will almost surely eliminate some of the current gyms from the standings. Each of you must strive to be the best, but know that there is no shame in defeat. Each gym is a spirited competitor, win or lose, and we will not hold our differences against each other."

Brock somehow failed to catch sight of the stranger from Viridian City as the meeting was adjourned, but found that this was not a disappointment.

"You should get back to Lily now, and don't worry too much about Misty, she's a tough girl," Brock saw Violet off near the shuttle station. She smiled back at him.

"Thanks… you keep studying to be a Pokemon doctor, okay? I'm sure your brother will be a great Gym Leader." She hugged him, and scampered off. Brock sighed as his chest fluttered after her.

" _Easy does it Brock, you've got other things to worry about. There will be others..."_

As he made his way down the mountain, he mused to himself how this surely was the end of it, his final actions as a Pokemon Gym Leader. From now on he would no longer participate in battles, but would seek to restore the remains of those battles.

He pushed aside both the image of Violet and the Viridian representative, who he realized had never allowed him to hear his name.

* * *

Deep beneath the Viridian Forest, the League representative strode swiftly through a hidden research facility. The steel-lined walls reflected fuzzy images of his black suit, contrasting with the white coats that peppered the rooms. The man ignored them as he made his way to the rear-most chamber, where the commander of Team Rocket sat in a chair hooked up to a peculiar looking helmet. An Alakazam floated in a meditative pose with its spoons lazily drifting in a circle around the chair.

The League representative hesitated, not knowing whether or not to disturb his boss as he allowed Alakazam to comb his mind. He ruminated what sort of punishment Giovanni might hand out were he to interrupt such a critical time to give his report.

His wondering ceased as Giovanni grunted beneath the helmet and Alakazam was bathed in a blue glow.

" _Ka_ … _zam..."_ it said in slow concentration. It's spoons began to spin faster.

Giovanni issued a pained cry as Alakazam's eyes opened with a flash.

"S-Sir!" the representative shouted as he began to reach for the helmet.

"NO YOU FOOL, I AM CLOSE, I KNOW IT!" Giovanni bellowed. The representative watched his leader endure for nearly five, gut-wrenching minutes. Giovanni began to twist and clench his hands around the chair.

Eventually, there was an echoing bang. A psychic backlash blew the representative's tie straight off of its clip and Alakazam was thrown to the edge of the wall, where it cracked the stone tile before crumpling to the floor, bent spoons clattering with it.

" _Ala… ka… zam..."_ it groaned in distress. The representative ignored it as he immediately reached to unclasp the helmed device. As soon as Giovanni's arms were free from the restraining cuffs they shot towards his underling's collar.

"B-boss..." he gasped, "are… you… alright?" he instinctively attempted to pry Giovanni's arms from his throat. The boss' eyes seemed to settle, and he released his hold.

"I see you have returned… Agent Trojan." Giovanni slowly rose from the chair as Trojan coughed air in.

"Y...yes sir," he wheezed, "the meeting went as expected," he quickly returned his tie to its clip.

"Anything you wish to report now?" Giovanni said candidly, ignoring his brief moment of chaos.

"The only notable information at the meeting is that the Elite Four has been revealed to be accepting any league champions that emerge from the new format as challengers," Trojan said warily, his gelled hair noticeably disheveled, "you will have my full report at eighteen-hundred hours." Giovanni straightened his own tie with much more composure.

"Those four have always coveted their lofty positions," he scoffed, "gracing the few they deemed worthy opponents with the _right_ to _challenge_ them… what arrogance! Still..." he continued, "this turn of events indicates a change… perhaps they are afraid their skills are becoming irrelevant and are seeking new blood to welcome into their fold… perhaps they intend to step into the light."

Giovanni smoothed his sleeves and made his way out of the room, Trojan trailing behind him. Neither paid a thought to the Alakazam collapsed against the wall.

"Sir..." Trojan began tentatively as Giovanni made his way to the Information Lab, "your efforts at recovering your memories..."

"It took some doing, but they were finally successful!" Giovanni said triumphantly, "of course, were it not for the files our scientists recovered from the drives, I would have never discovered what was absent from my mind, let us be thankful, Trojan."

"Yes, sir." Giovanni sat at a computer terminal prominently on display in the center of the lab and immediately began taking notes on what he'd recovered.

"I must record this immediately. The freshness of thoughts in one's mind is not to be underestimated. Trojan, compile your report, then stand by for further instructions."

"Sir?"

"Yes Trojan, we will begin preparing for our swift takeover of Kanto. The way to do so has finally been revealed to us." Giovanni typed ferociously, the expensive keyboard clicking loudly. Trojan immediately left the chamber to begin his work.

"Mark my words, my friend… you were created to fight for me, and I intend to make it happen. With what those scientists found, you will carve out a path to greatness for Team Rocket! A path to the heavens themselves! And it will be all thanks to your precious Berserk Gene… Mewtwo!

 **~Hey everyone, I know how long it's been, but I guess I had to sort some things in my life out. It's looking up, so I feel ready to present another chapter. I apologize if you were kept waiting, or if you just plain forgot about me. I really want to get more accustomed to writing, and I even want to add another story to the works while working on this one. A big part of my writing is trying to be efficient with the language. I don't want to write anything that doesn't want to be read, which means stuff that doesn't need to be there. There should be a purpose for every word, scene and dialogue you put in, and you shouldn't repeat things either. You readers, and your readers, are not goldfish. Most of them, anyway. That being said, I am concerned the last scene of this chapter didn't take things far enough. As you might imagine, it's an important scene for the plot, not so much for the characters. It was a difficult scene to conceive, and I may go back and edit it at some point. I'm also terrible at coming up with original names. I know the Japanese love to do theme naming, so i'll try to do the same. The TR operative who puts on the public persona then reports to Giovanni is named Trojan, which should be an obvious reference, but I also wanted it to be evocative of 'ship' imagery, because Team Rocket characters have been named as things related to rockets in the games, but this is a pretty loose tie between these two ideas. Oh well.**

 **And if you wanted to use your shipping goggles for Bock/Violet... sorry, I was just being a tease, they're not hooking up. I just thought I couldn't ignore Brock's character traits, and I also wanted to give Violet _some_ character that sets her aside from her sisters. I have other plans for Lily, but you needn't worry about her.**

 **~Iggy**


	5. Chapter Five: Love Hurts

_"_ _Loser deadbeat… Gonna_ leave _huh? Like mom and dad… I hate you..."_

" _I hate you..."_ Lily jolted awake from her sleep, pain in her chest. Sweating, she shakily rose from the bed and ran outside without her coat.

The winds on the mountains of Johto were brisk, but it did not bother Lily. In a way, it comforted her, distracted her. A full moon shown brightly in the night, illuminating the sea down below the cliff. She sat in front of the gym, looking out upon the water, crouched low with her bare arms around her knees. Goosebumps pebbled her skin, but she did not shiver in the cold. Her hair was unkempt from the wind and the bed she'd lay in moments prior.

The colorless night lay spread before her, where her eyes gazed dully out towards the horizon. Lights glowed beneath the waves lapping by the shore. Chinchou, she knew.

Maybe the gym could use a Chinchou, Lily thought.

 _The gym… The gym…_

She shook her head. She carefully unfurled her limbs and took a deep breath. Lily stood and trudged down to the shore.

The water turned her bare feet numb, but she ignored it. Despite coming out of bed and having perfectly cute pajamas in her bag, she was still dressed in the clothes she'd arrived in. She'd even failed to empty her pockets, where spare poke balls would dig into her sides while she slept.

She fished for one and enlarged it.

Glancing out at the brightly lit Chinchou, she casually tossed the ball into them.

To her surprise, there was a flash, and after a few moments a poke ball containing her new Chinchou floated back on the waves, resting against her shin.

She hadn't expected to actually _catch_ one.

Lily stared at the poke ball in her hand, dumbfounded.

There was a sudden gust, and a wave breached her knees, making her stumble.

" _I can't feel my legs,"_ she idly noted. Lily walked out of the shallows, suddenly acutely aware of the cold.

The Chinchou's poke ball clutched in her hand, she jogged barefoot back up the cliff. Her blood pumped and she breathed in pleasant exertion, giving her something to focus on for a few minutes.

Lily swept through the back of the gym, which was still unfamiliar compared to her home.

 _Gym… home… Daisy…_

Her hands trembled as she set the poke ball on the night stand. She wrapped herself in the comforter as her legs attempted to warm.

 _Daisy, Violet… Misty…_ Lily's breath hitched.

Why couldn't she stop _shaking?_

Her mind hurled into overdrive. Images and memories danced beneath her closed eyes. She saw Misty's cherub face before it was engulfed by the mouth of a Gyarados. Misty's young face peeked through her door while Lily cried after their parents left them.

 _Shame._

Furious tears trailed behind Misty as she declared she was leaving to become a great water pokemon trainer. A slightly older face, red with fury, called her out on her failure.

A future appeared, one in which she discovered Misty's sixteen year old body, broken, bloodied in some nameless cave.

 _Failure… Failure…_

Lily clenched her teeth and burrowed under the covers, trying to prevent tears from forming.

It was a long night.

* * *

Morning was almost gone when Lily slowly walked into the less than familiar kitchen. Again, she remained in the same clothes as the night before, hoping against hope that Dorian wouldn't notice.

Did she even care if he did?

"Morning!" Lily jumped as she saw the man himself appear at the table. "Um, I hope you slept well—" Lily sighed, "—and I know we didn't get to talk really since you came in late last night, but… I want to welcome you back to the Coastline Gym!" Dorian give an eye-crinkling grin. Lily took the opportunity to roll her eyes.

"Yeah, thanks." It had been several years since she and her older sisters had come here. The trip had been nice, Lily remembered. She ought to humor him.

"Well I'm sure you're hungry… I hope you like apple pancakes!"

She did. Lily grabbed a fork and took a bite from the placement before her. Her throat clenched as a sand-like taste filled her tongue. Still, she forced herself to swallow.

Dorian seemed to take her apparent enthusiasm well. That made it a little easier to continue eating. She did so mechanically, while Dorian struck up conversation. Carefully, Lily made sure to engage him as much as she could. The pancakes looked perfectly fine, and there was no reason for the milk to taste bad, but no matter what she put in her mouth, nothing tasted good.

"It sure has been a long time since you guys came to visit last… How are Violet and Daisy doing? I hear you all are making a _splash_ in the world of popular culture!"

Lily suppressed a groan.

"They're fine. We've been trading off time at the Cerulean Gym. It's my turn right now." Dorian whistled.

"Just you? Man I wouldn't wanna be one of your gym challengers right now! The last time you were here you put me in the _trashcan_ with that battle!"

Lily smiled as she finished off her food. _That_ she definitely remembered.

"When I finally got to battle Misty it was so much fun! She was just as tough as you were! It was great, even though I lost that one too..."

Lily's smile fell.

"...When was that?"

"Oh… she never told you?" Dorian said, a bit taken-aback, "man, must have been at least three years ago, I guess one of her friends had just finished his gym challenge in the Johto Region, unfortunately I didn't get to battle him, Misty kind of insisted when she told me who she was… oh yeah, I forgot to ask, how's she doing?" Lily hadn't known that Misty had come here, and it had been shortly before…

Right, his question.

"...She's been around different places, training by herself. We haven't seen her in… awhile."

An awkward silence. Dorian scratched his head, nervously trying to read the air. He wasn't too subtle, Lily thought to herself.

"So," Lily stood up, pushing her plate away, "underwater battles, right?"

* * *

Clad in the diving gear used by the Coastline Gym Lily idly drifted about among a pile of seaweed.

"Is three Pokemon each okay?" she heard Dorian over the radio in her ear.

"Sure," she said noncommittally, touching her flippers down on the sand. Dorian on the opposite side of the makeshift stadium with an enormous Mantine illuminating the ring as it appeared.

Lily held up a poke ball containing a Seaking.

It wasn't long before both Seaking and Seadra were down for the count. Lily allowed her final poke ball, the Chinchou she'd just caught, float about in front of her.

"Hey, uh… Lily? Is everything okay? You're not battling the way I remember..." her radio pinged. Lily considered his question. She remembered her behavior last night, how tired she felt, and how bleak the world around her appeared.

Eventually, a part of her reminded herself that Daisy had made Misty obtain an emergency alert system. Her deep-seated fear of Misty's gruesome death was… improbable. Yes, Misty was strong…

 _She's stronger than that… than me…_

" _..._ Can we take a break? Just for a minute..." Dorian recalled Mantine, still out after taking down her two pokemon, and swam over to her.

"Of course," he said in reassurance, "is there anything you need?"

"I think… I need to talk for a bit..."

* * *

"You're gonna need more strength than _that_ if you want an official gym recognition!" Lily said bossily as she scribbled in a notepad a list of facilities that had to be running optimally in a water-type gym.

"I still can't believe it… decimated by a Chinchou… I even used Lanturn! How did I lose?" Dorian ran his hands through his hair in agitation.

"Yours can't do Volt Absorb. Mine can," Lily said simply, her nose upturned at his disorganized closet of cleaning supplies. She made a pointed note with her pen.

"Hmm… well, as expected of Lily! Now that's more like how I remembered last time!"

"Tch."

After Lily had called for the break, there had been a pointed silence as she struggled to find words for her abysmal performance.

But once she got started, it had all come out.

" _I feel so terrible… all the_ time, _" Lily had hiccuped through her mask, "because I've_ never _been nice to Misty, because I said such_ terrible _things, because of how much pressure I've put Daisy under, and… and..." she sniffed, "because what if Misty goes off and_ dies _somewhere no one will find her? And… and… it will be_ all my fault! _" Her eyes sting with regret. "I can't eat… I can't sleep… I can't even_ battle _anymore… but I_ have _to keep the gym going!"_

 _Dorian, to his credit, had bravely wrapped his arms around her, though it didn't feel like much while underwater. He responded to each of her fears with reassuring words._

" _You'll see Misty again. I'm sure of it. That girl's one-of-a-kind, by now she'll have made her water Pokemon so strong nothing will ever beat her again. She'll be just fine… And she won't let you keep the gym forever either. I've seen how much she wants it. Someday, she'll come and take it from you. You're just holding it for then, when she's grown up."_

Lily had all but latched on to the idea. The image of her tyrannical self ruling the Cerulean Gym with an iron fist until Misty came along with six absurdly powerful water Pokemon and made her cruel sister grovel at her feet was… intoxicating.

That probably wasn't what Dorian had in mind while he consoled her, but whatever. A new drive welled up inside of her, and when Lily told him to resume the battle it had been more than enough to crush him using an unevolved Pokemon straight out of the wild.

Now she busied herself about the Coastline Gym, keeping occupied with nitpicking all the details that might prevent Dorian from becoming an actual gym leader.

"...And you'd _better_ start thinking about a badge! How can you run a gym without a badge?" she finished, tossing her notes on his desk.

Dorian rubbed his head sheepishly as he vigorously nodded to her every whim.

To Lily's relief, her rest that night had been far more stable. But she didn't want to grow complacent.

Just as she'd hauled her bag out the door of the Coastline Gym the next morning, she set it down and ran back to Dorian.

He instantly froze up as she kissed his cheek.

"I'll be back sometime to check on your progress~" Lily winked at him, who simply nodded absently.

Lily may have felt better that day, but she knew her troubles weren't over. It would take longer than that to keep the fear at bay. But now she knew that there were things she could do. Things to improve herself, things to help her family.

She knew that she couldn't do those things while crippled with anxiety and depression.

From now on, every time her thoughts overpowered her reason, she would endure. She would focus on a better future, and how to make it happen.

If she could endure the pain, eventually things would get better.

Lily just had to believe.

* * *

Brock earned himself some much needed sun after spending so much time studying at Celadon University. Despite the city's grand size, it was home to a wide variety of natural habitats and, therefore, Pokemon to be studied at the behest of the Pokemon Medical Program.

As he lounged on a bench trying to get his complexion the tan he missed Brock wondered when he would see Ash and Misty again. Certainly he wanted to show them what he'd learned over the past year. Moreover, he wanted to see how they'd developed as trainers. Misty in particular he looked forward to seeing, in hopes that her decision to leave the gym behind had at least paid off for her.

Forrest had been doing well as the new Pewter City Gym Leader, even after his mother had attempted to wash away the Pewter Gym's sacred rock-type heritage.

Brock shuddered.

Classes were on break for a few days, and he was pretty up to date with his work. Perhaps he should go on a hike somewhere.

Brock thought about places he might be able to trek when a stray newspaper page flew past his head and caught itself in a nearby bush. He lazily glanced over at it, then sat up straight.

" _Ancient Pokemon Aerodactyl discovered alive!"_

Brock snatched the newspaper and scanned it with more fervor than his textbooks.

" _...Brought over to the Celdadon Facility for Pokemon Care and Breeding, pending study, located..."_

Brock jumped to his feet. Not only was Aerodactyl a rock-type Pokemon, as were all ancient Pokemon currently extinct, but it wasn't far from here. In the past Brock might have merely been able to see it, but perhaps now, as both a breeder and upcoming Pokemon doctor, perhaps he could actually be involved…

This was a once in a lifetime opportunity!

After jogging for several blocks, Brock came across a wide building with a sign and fountain out front. He placed his hands on his knees, panting.

" _Man, I need to get back into shape somehow..."_

Upon entering the lobby Brock saw a large crowd of curious onlookers, no doubt inspired by the article. The head of the crowd was fielded by pushy reporters who were met by lanky security guards. Brock gently squeezed his way near them.

"Director, is it true that the Aerodactyl specimen is currently resisting all attempts to get close to it?" A portly man nervously adjusted his glasses in response.

"That seems to be the case, of course scientists have known well that Aerodactyl had been a vicious hunter in the wild. This occurrence has proven rather unique compared to species of Pokemon that live today. Currently our staff is theorizing that this Aerodactyl is not an indication of the survival of its species, but that is has persisted through eons in some sort of hibernation. This might explain its behavior, as humans did not exist in the time that this Aerodactyl may have lived, and thus we have no distinction besides 'prey'".

"Does the Facility have any leads in being able to further study Aerodactyl?"

"Not at this time, unfortunately, we're currently looking in to calling in some experts..." Brock decided to raise his hand.

"Excuse me!" Immediately, Brock was swarmed by the security guards.

"Sir, you cannot be up here without a press pass," one said sternly.

"Yes, but I'm here because—" The guard grasped his shoulder firmly.

"No exceptions, come pack with a pass," another guard began to lead him by the shoulder.

"Look, maybe I can help, I know a lot about—"

"Please wait!"

 _That voice…_

Brock felt the guards stop, but he paid no attention to them. His vision became filled with long dark hair contrasted with a pale complexion, and his heart skipped a beat.

When the one and only Suzie of Scissor Street latched onto his arm firmly, Brock immediately put all of his focus into remaining up on his feet.

"Please let him through! This is Brock, he is another Pokemon Breeder and is an expert in rock-type Pokemon! We've asked for his invaluable expertise in these unusual circumstances..." Suzie gave him a pointed look, and there was a pause as Brock attempted to regain his composure.

"Agh, um… Yes! Yes, I am a breeder and aspiring doctor of Pokemon! I also was once the Pewter City gym leader, and I, uh… happened to be in the area! Please allow me to help!" He stood himself ramrod straight in an attempt to act dignified.

The guards looked on in confusion then hurriedly backed off.

"Of course, miss Suzie. Please excuse us, mister Brock!" They bowed, and went back to keeping the press in check, who had taken advantage of their absence to hound the poor director some more.

Suzie smiled gratefully at him at quickly led him out of the lobby. They passed through a door and Suzie fortunately released his arm.

 _Or unfortunately,_ a voice whispered in Brock's head.

Now was not the time for that.

"Oh Brock, it's great to see you again..." Suzie moved in for a hug. Brock hurriedly stamped out the thoughts in his mind as he made sure to return it firmly.

"I'm very glad to see you too, Suzie," Brock said clearly. So far so good. He felt something warm and furry brush up against his leg, and he looked down to see a familiar Pokemon nuzzling him.

" _Vul… pix!"_ He smiled and reached down to scratch its ears.

"And you too, Vulpix."

"I was in my office reading through texts when Vulpix suddenly jumped up and scampered out the door. I guess she must have caught your scent, because imagine my surprise… Oh, I'm very sorry about just now! I… know you're probably busy… A Pokemon doctor, you said? How great for you! There's no real need for you to..." she looked down. Brock laid a hand on her shoulder.

"No, no I'd be glad to help… in any way I can! Plus, I have some time off from school, and… and there's _nothing_ I'd like more than to help _you_ with Aerodactyl!" Suzie looked back up, still so tall, Brock saw. Her eyes glistened in appreciation. Her demeanor struck him as a bit… odd.

"Oh… Thank you so much..."

Brock and Suzie watched from a one-way window into a large open room designed to replicate a natural environment, an artificial biosphere. Inside, Aerodactyl screamed as it ravaged the trees, perhaps in search of food.

"Right now all we've been able to do is provide it with meat to eat… Any attempts to get close or assist it have proven… dangerous," Suzie said quietly. Brock looked on in equal parts awe and fear. He remembered how he'd once seen an Aerodactyl. For awhile it had seemed like a dream, but now…

"It looks like it's having trouble flying."

"Yes," she replied. "See it's wings? Even in good condition it probably can't fly great distances with it's weight and their small size, so now that they're all scraped up like that… If we can find a way to keep it calm enough to approach it we may be able to help… But even if we do, there's another problem." Brock looked over at her. "There's not a lot of knowledge on the external care of rock or steel type Pokemon. Their texture means such injuries are rare. As you know, I specialize in improving Pokemon's condition through massage, but… when it comes to rock-type Pokemon… There's just no information, which is what I was trying to read on today." She folded her arms despondently.

Brock continued watching the Aerodactyl as it appeared to lose interest in the surrounding trees and sat still to recover energy.

Until he could figure out a way to approach Aerodactyl, this was as good a time as any.

"Suzie," he turned to her, "we'll still need to find a way to get close to it, but I can also show you what I've learned while raising my rock Pokemon. Are there any other rock Pokemon in the facility I can take a look at?"

"Certainly, Brock," Suzie smiled cutely, "I can't thank you enough, the world of Pokemon breeding has just never seemed _interested_ in working with rock-type Pokemon… or some others like steel or bug-type for that matter… honestly, I thought my colleagues were better than this." She led him out of the room to where a cave-looking structure led to both rock and ground Pokemon. He saw Rhyhorn near an opening in the cave, while in the back sat Geodude and Graveler. A lone Onix was curled up comfortably in a corner.

They were being given good care. Of course, Brock expected no less from such a prestigious facility, but rock Pokemon always appeared to be content with simply sitting still.

Brock knew better; these Pokemon were healthy, but also _bored._ He nodded soundly to himself, to which Suzie looked at him curiously.

"Well then..." Suzie listened keenly, anxious to learn more about rock-type Pokemon care. "I'll need to take a look at a cleaning closet."

"...Um… a cleaning closet?"

"Yes," Brock turned sharply to her. Perhaps he was still wound up too tight. Suzie tilted her head at him, but said nothing more and began leading him again.

"You see," Brock began, trying to sound confident, "to us, rock-type Pokemon don't appear to do much, but that's because we humans have a very different sense of time than they do." They turned a corner, passing by many other colorful habitats with interesting Pokemon. "In nature, the Earth is constantly changing, but to our sense of time this mostly happens very slowly, over millions of years. It is difficult for us to understand these natural processes because our minds are confined to within about a century through which our natural lifespans run. We might be able to _imagine_ a span of a few thousand years, but the Earth's time as a whole is utterly beyond our comprehension. We simply cannot fathom it." Brock's arms waved wildly in excitement. Suzie listened, doe-eyes wide.

"I believe you mean that… rock-type Pokemon function within a time frame that is greater than ours, yes?"

"Hah… well, I guess you aren't a sensational Pokemon breeder for nothing," Brock said, immediately sheepish at how absorbed he got in his lecture.

"You sure love rock-type Pokemon, don't you, Brock?" Suzie giggled. He rubbed his nose.

"You bet. Well, it's true rock Pokemon live for a long time, but it's not as long as with the Earth's geology. As I said before, to us they only _appear_ to do nothing. I fact, much like the stones themselves, they engage themselves in activities that can take years of time. This is normal behavior. So," Brock waved back in the direction of the cavern, "in any place not in the wide open world, even one as nice and realistic as this, they have trouble occupying themselves like they normally would. Luckily, I learned from my father that there's at least one good way to keep them happy and improve their condition." Suzie made a small noise of glee, and stopped right outside a single white door. She grasped the handle and Brock took a look inside.

" _Excellent,"_ he thought, and began rummaging around for some large scrub brushes and as many laundered towels as he could turned back to Suzie and held some out to her. "Quite simply, rock Pokemon enjoy a good polishing." She eyed them in curiosity, and took some.

Back in the cave Brock led a group of young breeders and facility attendants, which Suzie had called in to learn as a part of the scope of the project of polishing all the rock-type Pokemon in the facility by hand.

"Try using only one hand! You'll get a better pressure than with both hands!" Brock instructed through cupped hands before grabbing one of the scrub brushes to prepare for the task of polishing the Onix. He went through his mental checklist as he'd once done while on the road and began scrubbing. The Onix gave a low rumble of appreciation and slowly stretched itself out to give Brock more access.

After while he decided to check on Suzie and waved one of the more enthusiastic breeders over. He demonstrated the technique and observed the young breeder until he was satisfied he could leave him for now. He spotted Suzie carefully rubbing a Geodude with her towel. She seemed very engrossed in her task. He shuffled somewhat nervously and made sure she noticed his approach so as not to startle her.

"So you did this each week for your Pokemon, Brock?" She looked up at him, wiping her arm across her brow, where sweat was forming. Brock realized what about her had seemed odd. Her movements had been languid and her eyes looked a bit dark. The whole situation on top of whatever other responsibilities must have her exhausted.

" _Where is Zane?"_ The thought bubbled up inside Brock uncomfortably. The thought of voicing it aloud however made his stomach turn in anticipation. There was no way he could interject like that in this situation.

Plus, it was none of his business, right? He shook his head.

"If you're tired, you should rest, Suzie," Brock said with caution, "rock Pokemon appreciate a forceful polish, unlike other Pokemon." She smiled up at him from where she remained crouched.

"Oh, yes, it's just that I need to be able to help Aerodactyl as soon as I can, so… I'll be alright Brock," she returned to meticulously running both hands with the rag over the Geodude, which was emitting a low, appreciative hum. Brock watched her carefully. Suzie paid very close attention to Geodude's reactions, finding what spots and methods it appreciated the most. Brock saw a drop of sweat run down her cheek. Her hands looked red, and her pale smock was patched with dirt. Through it all, her eyes shown with luminescent intensity, a laser-focus dedicated to nothing less than the greatest in Pokemon care.

To Brock, she was a more beautiful sight than anyone he could possibly imagine. He turned around and took a deep breath. Brock informed Suzie that he was going back upstairs to research the Aerodactyl, and confirmed that they could page him if they needed anything before the group was done here.

Brock spent hours watching the Aerodactyl's behavior. Every so often it attempted to climb it's way up the trees, since it could not fly. On the off chance it succeeded it would look through the branches, then fall down and rest for the next attempt.

" _It's looking for something, but what?"_ Brock thought. He found that the only clues came when Aerodactyl made it up a tree, and that he could only wait for each chance to observe.

Finally, after Brock sat hunched in his seat for hours, something changed. A fruit fell down from a tree that Aerodactyl successfully climbed. It was a large pecha berry. Brock sat up straight as Aerodactyl quickly scarfed down the pecha berry, then immediately spat it back out with a groan.

Brock ran back to the room Suzie had been using as her office and thumbed through the bookshelf for a book on berries he'd seen earlier. He scribbled some notes and went back to check on the Aerodactyl. Brock relaxed when he saw it had curled up for the night, keeping a wary eye for attackers. There would be no approaching it until the morning.

Brock walked back to the office where he found Suzie in her chair rubbing salve on her hands.

"Suzie," Brock began without preamble, "I have an idea on how to get close to Aerodactyl." Her eyes widened, but Brock continued, "but it's gone to sleep now, it'll have to wait until tomorrow."

"That sounds great Brock!" she fidgeted, "then, um, tomorrow, if you're willing-"

"I'll stay the night if that's okay," Brock said.

"Oh, yes, of course, Brock."

"Suzie, is there a room for storing food supplies?"

"Yes, it's number two-thirteen on the map, and there's a kitchen next door..."

"I'll be back in a few minutes then," he said, leaving the office not only to get started with his idea, but to keep from making a fool of himself.

He found the room Suzie told him about and noted that a variety of berries, dried meats, and pre-made Pokemon food. He also saw packaged foods and a refrigerator containing ingredients for quick dinners.

" _I'll start with the grepa berries tomorrow,"_ Brock thought. It had been awhile since he'd eaten, not to mention… _"Suzie needs to eat too,"_ he decided, and set about whipping up some quick rice-omelete bowls, whistling.

After about fifteen minutes he carried two bowls with chopsticks back to the office.

"I didn't know plain eggs could taste so _good_!" Suzie exclaimed as she dug into a bowl, thanking Brock profusely. Brock blushed.

"It's not just the Pokemon who need to eat, Suzie," Brock said with as much reproach as he could muster.

"Oh I _know,_ " Suzie teased. _Teased._ Brock adjusted the collar of his shirt nervously. "It's just that I've been so busy..."

"Is Zane here?" Brock blurted. Suzie stopped eating. Brock wanted to smack himself. How had that come out so abruptly?

"No… he's… in Unova, right now," Suzie said softly.

"That's pretty far..." Brock said carefully, "is he doing breeding work there?"

"Yes… while we worked the center together, he was always reading about the Pokemon and breeding work done in far away regions. He's always been a big dreamer. Over time, I could tell it was harder and harder for him to stay with me, so… I split from him, so he could go."

"...Did you tell him why you did?"

"Not in so many words, but… I'm sure he understood. He's doing well, last I heard." She sipped some water quietly. Brock rubbed his head.

"Well… I'm sorry to hear that." He was. He thought they'd been great together.

"It's okay," Suzie said softly, "it's been awhile now… and the breeding center's doing fine too… it's just that everyone seems to think that it would be easy for us to have a relationship since we were childhood friends and… well, it wasn't." She finished her bowl and leaned back in her chair. "There are some blankets and pillows in the closet down the hall, unless you'd like to go back of course… it's not the first time I've stayed in the office since this business with Aerodactyl started," she smiled as she pointed to the right of the door. Brock saw her yawn cutely as he left.

Suzie took the dishes back to the kitchen area while Brock took his time finding the closet. Suzie's explanation certainly didn't make suppressing his feelings any easier. Moreover, if Suzie was both busy in life and recovering from a break-up he did not feel comfortable with attempting to pursue her. Brock sighed and grabbed some blankets and pillows and made his way back to the office.

Suzie lay across her chair, arms folded, her head lolled to the side, asleep.

Brock gently draped a blanket over her form before settling himself on a couch nearby.

* * *

"Brock, Aerodactyl eating fruit in addition to meat is an incredible finding!" Suzie whispered to Brock as they gently cleaned up Aerodactyl's wings while it munched on a mixture of grepa and cornn berries. "The fossil record never indicated it eating anything other than meat!" Brock coughed lightly.

"I know… I saw how it kept trying to climb the trees. It was looking for berries, but didn't like the pecha. Too sweet. The grepa berry is very sour, so I thought it would like that, and the cornn berry has been around since prehistoric times. We were lucky it worked."

The Aerodactyl rumbled in contentment.

"I need to get back so I can start compiling these findings," Brock said as they returned to Suzie's office, "I know some people who could help out with Aerodactyl too..." They continued discussing the case until after lunch. As Brock turned to leave Suzie grabbed his hand, halting him.

"Say, um… if you have time next weekend..." Suzie began.

"I'm always ready to help Aerodactyl," Brock answered boldly.

"Um, not that, it's just… there's this restaurant that opened nearby… Would you like to… go next week?"

Brock didn't hear anything but the Pidgey chirping outside. His mind blanked out and completely lost focus. Suzie began to twirl a lock of hair nervously as she waited.

"...When would you like to go?"

 **I have to admit, I had a lot of trouble with this chapter, and not simply because I've returned to school after a long time away. This chapter explores relationship dynamics different from the other chapters, and as someone who's had relatively poor luck with women i found the perspective difficult. There was the problem of Zane, particularly, but dammit I like Breedershipping, and there's very little of it.**

 **If the whole thing with Aerodactyl liking berries seemed weird to all you biology types, well, that's what I thought too, but the anime decided to roll with it, so...**

 **Well, I'm thinking one more chapter of "pre" material and then it's time for shit to get real.**

 **~Iggy**


End file.
